Under their wing
by meyouthem123
Summary: AU:It was familiar and they both felt safe. They were no longer forced to live with strangers. This was home. Their home. Filled with memories of childhood. Jude and Callie were both convinced they finally caught a break. However, the more time passed, the more obvious it became to them – things will never be the way they used to be.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** ** **I learned something new about myself - writing a full story before posting it, is not my thing. Somehow, it doesn't feel right, because I'm not sharing it with anyone. I** f I have a finished chapter - I want to post it, not let it marinade till I finish writing a full story.  
**

 **So, here is my newest AU installment. Another take on, how I imagine things could have turned out differently.  
**

Stef POV

As I thought about it, there were quite a few things I enjoyed about working the night shift. One of the main reasons were the empty and quiet streets. During the night time the street lights illuminates the streets in almost romantic manner. There was a small fog in the air, but it was starting to disperse, giving the city a slightly mysterious feeling. The stars, which can be seen in the clear, dark sky compliments the city like a smile on people's face. It's magical, how peaceful and beautiful the city is. To make it even better, one of the best views to witness is the Sunrise as you drive along the coast line. Walk on beach is even better, Lena loves it. All of that, makes me fall in love with San Diego over and over again. I have lived here for over 40 years, but the city never gets boring.

Now, at 3:23AM the Sun is still hidden behind the horizon.

Despite the view, we couldn't get distracted, because we were still on job and needed to be on high alert. Loosing alertness in my line of duty could turn our dangerous if not even deadly. Situation can change in a matter of seconds and we needed to react properly no matter the hour of the day.

"Hey, slow down!" I called out suddenly, when I noticed someone walking further down the road we were driving. I took my arm off the doors and sat up straighter as all of my attention was on the person who was staggering down the street with a bottle in one hand. The person was dragging their feet, tripping over almost every crack and bump, barely evading bumping into lamp posts.

When we got closer, I could finally distinguish that it was a male and it was a beer bottle in his hand. It didn't look like he was homeless, his clothes looked clean and in one piece. He was simply too intoxicated to walk straight. In this state, he could be a danger to himself. Falling down, could lead to head trauma, for example. He could be easily robbed. Navigating drunk could also take him miles opposite way from his true destination - his home. And what if someone was home, waiting for him, worrying sick?

We were obliged to help him. To get him to safety. We will pick him up, check his ID and drop him off at home, if we get his address out of him. If not, he will sleep it off in one of our holding cells and we will sort it out in the morning, once he sobers up.

"I see it!" Mike answered, slowing the car down as we prepared to stop next to him

As we were driving up, the man raised the bottle up to his lips, drinking it for couple of seconds, but once it was empty, he tossed the bottle down to the ground, shattering it and walking away. The next moment he stops at a mail box, reached down to his crotch and unzipped his pants.

"Oh, man...don't," Mike muttered to himself as we witnessed him starting to urinate on the mail box "At least he didn't pee himself," my partner commented, when he saw how I scrunched up my nose in dislike of the sight in front of me

"Let's hope he doesn't puke in our car," I said before getting out of the car, going over to him to arrest him from small minor offenses, public urination for one.

* * *

"I'm walking out of the station as I speak," I said grabbing my bag from my desk and turning towards the exit

"I left a plate of scrambled eggs in the fridge for you," Lena told me while I walked through the break hall. In the background I heard the kids chatter and car engines running. They must be at the school already.

"Thanks, love. Are you at school already?"

"Yes. I'm walking towards school as we speak. Twins and Brandon already went to class," Lena replied. Her voice was barely audible as the school bell had rang out "I have to go. Go home, get some rest. I love you."

"I will. Love you too," I answered before ending the phone call. By that time, I was already by the main entrance in the precinct and with my free hand I was reaching for the door-handle.

What I hadn't anticipated, was for the doors to be opened unexpectedly from the other side, almost resulting in me getting hit in the face. I jumped back, avoiding the swinging doors, but the next second someone bumped into me. The force with which the person had come onto me was so strong, that I nearly lost my footing and fell down.

"Oh, gosh!" the person said apologetically right after the impact, when I started to regained my footing "I didn't mean to—didn't see you there. I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right," I assured as I stood up straight, finally getting a look at the person, who had ran into me.

It was a young girl, still a teen. She had a backpack over her shoulders. Her brown hair was taken in ponytail. She had flushed cheeks, like she had been running. Now that I got few seconds to observe her, I noticed that she was a little out of her breath as well. The girls clothes, unlike my daughters, were missing the bright colors and they were definitely not in the fashion trends. Converse sneakers – classic.

Her eyes sparked up, at our eye-contact. For a moment I thought she looked delighted and glad to see me, almost as if she had ran into an old friend. It seemed as if she recognized me.

But that can't be right because I don't think that we have ever met before. At least I do not recall it. I might have simply imagined it, because I had just finished the night shift and I was worn out and exhausted.

The girl rubbed her hands nervously at her tights "You work here?" she questioned. There was some excitement heard in her voice. While she did look like she recognized me, she didn't express her excitement of running into me further, nor did she ask me for any personal favor or questioned if I recognized her as well.

"I do," I thought it was obvious, because I was still in my full uniform and was on my way out of the building "But my shift just ended, so I'm on my way out, actually," I pointed to the doors, hoping that this conversation doesn't drag on for too long for all I wanted right now, was to sleep.

"Oh," she breathed out disappointed. Her eyes darted around as if she was looking for something or someone "Well, maybe, you could quickly direct me to the person with whom I have to speak with to get someone out of holding?"

"Who exactly are you looking for?" I asked getting slightly curious as to who the girl was trying to bail out of holding. There were multiple people in the holding as far as I knew – the drunk guy Mike and I picked up, a burglar, four men ,who were all arrested for a fight at a bar, a woman, who was arrested for prostitution, and a young boy, Mike and I cough tagging a wall just hour ago. Right now, I was betting on the young boy. He could possibly be her boyfriend or just a friend. The boy was 18 and the girl seemed to be around the same age, maybe a year younger.

The girl averted her eyes down "My...my dad," she said shyly. Without a doubt she felt ashamed for her dad. "He got arrested this morning," her head swung up and she looked to me "Not for anything too bad. He just got drunk. The police apparently picked him up for public urinating among other small offenses."

"Is your dad's name Donald Jacob by any chance?" I questioned back connecting the dots in my mind. To me it was pretty clear that she was talking about the guy Mike and I picked up couple of hours ago.

When we processed him, it turned out he had quite the past. His prints were in the system. The man had spend 4 years in prison for manslaughter. Couple of years ago he had caused a car crash while driving under influence, in which two people had lost their lives, including his wife. He got out of jail two years sooner to what he was initially sentenced for good behavior and because the prison was overcrowded. This was the first sign of trouble he had caused since his release almost 2 years ago. I really hope he won't make a slip again, I would hate to see him being locked back up.

The girls eyes grew bigger "Yes. How did you know?"

"I'm officer Stefanie Adams Foster - one of the officers, who picked up your father this morning," I explained. The girl only nodded her head at my explanation as she continued to gaze to my eyes.

Something in the girls brown eyes started to seem familiar all of a sudden. Only few minutes ago, I had thought she had been glad to have had ran into me. That feeling started to resurface and it grew stronger the longer I get to talk to her and observe her. Maybe I have met this girl before, but my old head won't allow me to remember it. Her face features, her stare, the way she stood, the way she spoke, her aura – it all seemed familiar. When, why, where or how – those were the questions that I did not have an answer at this point.

I have met and talked to so many people on the job that it's hard to recall everyone. So different faces, so different reasons, thousands of different stories and experiences. Eventually I will place her, I was sure of it. It's only matter of time.

At this point, I had forgotten that I was heading home. I wanted to see this through. An unsettling feeling didn't leave me as well, all because this girl was coming to bail out a grown man - her father. I had excepted to see a wife or girlfriend, maybe a friend, but not his daughter, who, I was sure, wasn't even an adult. This without a doubt will change their relationships, possibly not in a good way. She might start to resent this man, that is, if she doesn't already. At least, over the time Brandon started to resent his father: for drinking, for not showing up, for the constant excuses that he had made to him and for the broken promises. Thankfully, Mike cleaned up his act and he started to repair the relationship with his son.

"What's your name?" I asked silently hoping that learning her name with spark something in my memory

"Callie," she replied without much hesitation. Sadly, learning her name, didn't make me recall how I knew this girl. In my phones contact list there is no one by that name.

"Come with me, Callie," I gestured to the hallway "I'll help you sort this out."

"I thought your shift ended?" the girl recalled my words, remaining standing still, questioning my motives

"It will, once we get your dad out of the holding cell and you to school as soon as possible," I smiled at the girl and softly touched her upper arm. The girl nodded her head, accepting my help, and followed me inside the precinct.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you, everyone, for the support. It was amazing to hear from you :)**

Stef POV

I stood by my SUV and watched from afar how Callie and her father talked. The girl seemed to maintain a distance from him standing with her hands crossed on her chest. There was barely any eye contact between them, that is, while Donald seemed to look at his daughter, she mostly kept her eyes elsewhere – ground, the building behind, to the street. I saw no affection between them at this moment. If I didn't know any better, I would think they were strangers.

My assumption was that Donald was trying to apologize, explain his actions, where he had been, what had happened, but by the look, Callie was having none of it as she seemed to be fed up with his excuses.

"-discuss this at home?" I heard Callie request after she had briefly averted her eyes back to me. Donald accepted his daughters answer nodding his head.

"-late for work," Callie took a step away from, getting ready to leave "And I have to go to school."

"Callie, wait!" Donald grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving. The scene that unfolded in front of my eyes made me alert. I leaned off the car and took a step towards them, getting startled by the way how he grabbed her hand. It seemed too rough for my liking and did not sit well with me.

"What is it, dad?" Callie asked as she turned to him, pulling her hand out of his hold

Donald didn't speak loud enough for me to hear, I can only assume what he said to her judging by what Callie did next. The answer was – money. Callie reached into her pockets and handed her father couple of dollar bills. I had no way of knowing how much it was or for what purpose. Donald took the money and put the bills in his pocket without counting it.

They parted their ways, each going different direction the next moment. Neither looked back at each other over their shoulders. Callie came my way, while her father walked down the street, heading east in a quite fast pace.

"Ready to go?" I asked opening the passenger side doors to her, keeping my promise of getting her to school as soon as possible so she doesn't miss any more classes than she already has.

"Mm-hmm," she took her backpack off her shoulder, held it in her right as she hopped into the car. I let Callie close the doors herself as I walked around the car. She buckled the seat belt without a request from me.

"Thank you again for driving me to school," Callie said once we had driven out of the parking lot "I might even get to school in time for my next class."

"Don't mention it," I replied, feeling glad that I could be of help. Not wanting the ride to be spent in uncomfortable silence, I tried to keep the conversation going "How long have you been going to Jefferson High?"

"This past year. I'm a junior." Her answer helped me lower the possible age frame for her. She was either 17 or 18, depending on when her birthday was.

"Where did you study before?"

"Lots of places," Callie shrugged her shoulders lightly as she glanced out the side window to the buildings we were passing by "Fallbrook, Marshall, Lincoln, Hoover, Chula Vista, San Yisidro."

My mouth dropped at the long list for I wasn't completely sure what the reason for switching schools that often would be. The girl didn't look like she could be such a rebel or could cause too much trouble. But then again, looks can be deceiving. I hadn't gotten one bad vibe from her, though. She seemed too innocent and too sweet. Besides, she seemed eager about going to school. Excited even. No protest what so ever.

"Did you move around a lot?" I questioned, because that seemed to be the most reasonable explanation for her many school changes

"That's one way to put it," She answered, extending both of her legs as far out as the car allowed and placing her hands on her backpack, which rested in her lap

When I glanced to her next time, she asked me "Do you have kids?" Felt like she wanted to change the subject.

"I do," I confirmed "I have three. Two sons and a daughter. They are about the same age as you are."

A wide smile decorated my face every time I spoke off my kids. They were all my babies, even though the twins don't share my DNA. The love I had for my family was tremendous. I was proud of all of them. Of Brandon's piano skill, of Jesus athleticism, of Mariana's genius mind.

But my smile also hid pain. In my heart, I have four kids. Frankie, our baby, died before her time, even before her life could start. Lena and I were devastated and heartbroken by our loss. As were our kids, they had been very excited to hear that mama and I wanted to have baby. My wife took the loss harder than anyone else. She was the one, who had been pregnant with Frankie. She blamed herself for what happened, even thought she didn't do anything wrong. As hard it is to say it, sometimes bad things happen. No one is to blame. There was nothing we could have done to avoid it.

It's a slow process of moving forward. A lot of tears have been shed. Even after 2 months, the pain we both felt, is still is very fresh, strong and raw. But the subject – sensitive. It wasn't something we wanted to discuss with strangers or to be reminded of, for that matter. But Frankie will always remain in our hearts.

"Which school do they attend?" Callie wondered. I was thankful that I didn't have to keep the conversation flowing on my own. There have been few times I have driven teenagers to home or school before, I can't recall many times, where the teenager has been talkative.

"Anchor Beach," I answered. Seeing Callie's confused face, I added "It's a charter school in Mission Bay, by the beach. Very good school. Teachers are very knowledgeable and helpful, but they can be tough as well, if needed. No slacking is allowed."

"Oh, wow...by the beach?" Callie repeated not believed that a school like that exists "I'm envious of the kids who go there. Anchor Beach sounds like Heaven just from that one small detail."

"Don't be fooled. Kids there still have to study," I chuckled as I glanced to the girl, but the smile soon faded away as I recalled her conversation with her father outside the precinct.

"Does it have Middle school?" Her next question took me a little by surprise. It made me wonder if she had a younger sibling, who should start Middle school this fall, and they are searching for a school to attend next fall.

"Yeah, it does. It has Primary school as well."

"Oh, nice."

Our conversation stopped for few minutes after that. Callie didn't have any more questions about the school or any other topic, but I was thinking of the ways, how to ask her more personal question.

While I know it wasn't my business, I couldn't simply leave it alone. It's not who I am. I can't just turn a blind eye to it. It seemed like her situation at home wasn't the best. If her father was a drunk and have done this before, it's not a good place for her to grow up. There have been multiple cases, where the police ignores simple things like this, turn a blind eye just one more time – a lot of those cases end bad. People have gotten hurt or worse, all because no one helped and no one paid any attention. Police go by words - to serve and protect – and that's what I'm trying to do.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask," my statement got Callie's attention, she looked at me slightly frightened and worried about what I was about to say "Is your dad often going out and getting drunk?"

Her right hand flew up to her face and she rubbed her nose "It was a one time thing," Callie replied after a long pause

There was no doubt in my mind – it was a lie. She had taken a long time to come up with that answer. An answer that would please me and stop me from asking further questions. Callie also started to fidget her backpacks zipper afterward, looking rather nervous about followup questions.

"You can tell me the truth," I probed softly, trying to get out an honest answer out of her even thought I knew I was walking on thin ice as it was. To be completely honest, I knew I had little to go on. One slip, one bad conversation didn't mean Donald Jacob was a bad parent. Hell, everyone makes a mistake once in a while. I've made mistakes. Parents make mistakes just like anyone else does. But I just couldn't ignore it, because I feared the worst. If something does happen and I never investigated, I will never forgive myself. I couldn't take that risk. She can hate me for it, I can take it. Being hated for it would be better than the guilt that I would feel if something did eventually happen, knowing I never did anything to stop it.

"What truth?" Callie defend with slightly raised voice, making me think, I might have touched a sensitive topic "He went to a bar with his co-workers and got drunk. That doesn't mean he's a bad person. Haven't you ever gotten drunk with your friends? Taken one too many drinks?" Callie asked accusingly "Don't answer that," she added quickly "Why do you want to make him into a bad person just because he got arrested walking home from a bar? How would you like if someone arrest you after a night out with friends and then accuse you of being a bad parent the next morning?" Callie detained a small pause before she added much quieter "You wouldn't like it so much, would you?"

While keeping my eyes on the road ahead, I stated firmly after taking into consideration everything she told me "I'm not going to apologize for caring!" Glancing to Callie the next moment, I saw how she was nibbling on her lower lip, processing what I had just said.

"Thank you for that, but there's nothing to worry about. I'm well taken care of," Callie spoke up in a low voice after a long moment of silence. Funny, I had expected her to snap back at me – why do you care – or something along the lines. I have gotten that line a lot from teenagers.

I had never been more happy about a red light. Once I stopped the car at the intersection, I turned to Callie "Say that again."

Callie looked to me. Our eyes met for an intense stare down. It felt like a battle of will. Neither one of us blinked. I was desperate to get a read from the girl, but she was fighting to make sure she doesn't give away too much.

This is the hardest part of the job- understanding if there is a reason to worry, with the little information we have. People behave differently. There is no handbook on this.

There was a voice in my head that was telling me that she was protecting her father. Similar like a lot of people, who were being abused by their family members, have done. Mainly the reason was fear.

If I've learned anything on this job, is that people often cover for the loved one, even if they are being hurt by them. It's humans nature, wanting to protect your family, a loved one. Parents do it all the time, without blinking an eye. People are afraid of what would happen if they tell the truth. Scared of the outcome, scared of how it would affect their lives and relationship with the other person. It's never an easy decision to make, especially if there is no one else by your side besides the person in question.

As I stared to her eyes, I didn't see any fear in them. Callie was not afraid of her father. To be fair, Donald Jacob never gave me the feeling that he was a violent, easily angered and aggressive. He seemed like a gentle soul. The alcohol part was the one that made me question him. Much like it had made me question Mike.

Eventually Callie's brown eyes softened "I'm okay!"

Right now, I didn't get the feeling that Callie's life could be in danger. I was leaning more towards – Donald Jacob slipped and made a mistake. But even though I won't question her further, I certainly won't forget it. I will keep a close eye on this family, looking out for anything suspicious further on.

"Okay," I said letting out a breath as I took her word for it.

For now.

A car behind us honked, telling me that I am being slow on driving at the green. Quickly putting the car in gear, I drove out. There was awkward silence between us for the next couple of minutes.

"My ex husband was an alcoholic," I opened up to her, not really sure of the reason. Maybe I wanted to show her that I have lived with an alcoholic as well and know how it's like. Maybe, I wanted to show her that she could talk to me about her issue, that she could trust me, because I have been through something similar. "One day he thought it was okay to get behind the wheel drunk, with our son in the back seat. It wasn't," I detained a pause, before I added, finishing my story "He drove off road and hit a tree."

"Was your son okay?" Callie wondered with a hint of worry in her voice. Her sympathy seemed so genuine and raw, because of her past.

"They both got out okay. Some small bruises, sore bodies and a fright. They were lucky. Thankfully they didn't hit anyone else," I answered while I gripped the steering wheel tighter. Recalling the past like that, made me feel the anger I had felt that day against my husband and the fear I had for my families health. I contained the anger by gripping the steering wheel tighter and focusing solely on the road "Anyway, that's most likely the reason, why I got so worried about..." I took a deep breath in "-you and your home situation. I know your dad is not my ex husband. But my experience has made me more wary, cautious and alert around people like my ex."

"That was fortunate they weren't seriously hurt," Callie said relieved the story ended on good terms "Others aren't so lucky," she added in a low voice a moment later. There was a certain weight to her voice.

"Yeah," I agreed without saying anything else

"You can drop me off here," she spoke up a minute later.

I had forgotten that I was driving her to school. We were almost up to the school. It was a 3 story building. Built using red bricks. It was surrounded mostly by grass. I saw couple of tables and benches outside. A huge sign hung over the entrance of the school _Jefferson High School_. While the school didn't look that bad, I knew it wasn't a good public school. Lena has mentioned it couple a time, saying that kids who have transferred from here to Anchor Beach are always struggling academically. They are usually behind the other kids. Barely can pass the entrance examination. Few who do, often do it at second or third try. They do have a great basketball team and cheerleaders, though.

I parked the car, right by the pathway that lead straight to the main entrance.

"Thank you, again, for the ride!" Callie expressed her gratitude as she undid her seat belt

"No problem, kid. Happy to be of help," I smiled kindly at the girl as I watched her

Callie opened the doors, put her right foot out and got ready to climb out herself, when she paused and looked back at me " You know…you are exactly as I remember you. Haven't changed a bit. Except from the hair," she smirked at me "It was nice talking to you again, Officer!"

The girl didn't wait for my reply. She smiled warmly at me, got out of the car, closing the doors behind her, and walked towards the school, leaving me pondering my mind, trying to remember where we had met.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I was blown away by your response. Seriously...guys, you are amazing. Thank you!  
**

Callie POV

"It's right next to beach!" Jude exclaimed, when I told him we were now looking at Anchor Beach. We stood across the street from the school Officer Stefanie Adams Foster mentioned to me few day ago.

Jude's going to end 6th grade so we needed to start looking into Middle schools Jude could attend. We have looked at couple of options now. All of them were public schools, located up to 30 minute walk or less than one hour bus drive from home.

Jefferson Middle school was at the top of our list at the moment. It was most certainly dads favorite. The school is located in the building next to Jefferson High. Actually, the buildings were joined together by a long hallway. So, I was less than 5 minutes away. It was a walk distance from home. Overall, it seemed the most obvious choose, but still, I wanted to give Jude some options. Mainly because for the last couple of years he didn't have a say about anything.

Jefferson is a public school and not the best one. The teachers don't really care at all about the students. No one cares if you don't pay attention. You skip a class – whatever. A lot of the teachers don't do the extra work and don't have consultations, with that I mean, you can go, but 50% of the times the teacher won't be there. Sadly, fights and bullying in the school is fairly common.

To be honest, Anchor Beach was slightly out of Jude's league, because it was a charter school. From the little I was told about it, I got the feeling they take education very seriously. Slacking and skipping classes would not be allowed and teachers expect 110% efficiency of you in class. I can only assume the homework load would be bigger and test harder, or at least the grading system would be much more stern. This school would require so much more from Jude than any public school would. It's one of the reasons I silently wanted Jude to attend it. It would be more challenging, but in the long haul, much better for Jude education wise.

I wanted to check Anchor Beach out form the moment Stefanie Adams Foster mentioned it to me. Honestly, it sounded too good to be true. That's why I wanted to come check it out and see it with my own two eyes to believe it. I know we can't afford to send Jude to private school, but I still want something better for him. I want him to have a better education than I did.

"I know, right!" I put my arm around his shoulder to pull him closer to my side "Lets go take a closer look."

"Can we?" Jude looked up to me, his eyes sparking with excitement. There were still students in the yard. The school was still open and filled with people. Some students were sat at the tables, chatting. Few boys were throwing a football. There was a volleyball match going on on the beach in mixed teams. Groups of friends were walking out of the school premises, chatting and laughing. Others were being picked up by parents. Some simply walked across the yard, probably heading to or from a class.

"Sure!" I said convinced we can't get into any trouble for doing it "No one will notice us!" I pulled on his shirt lightly towards the crossroad "Come on!"

We blended into the crowd of students perfectly. Jude and I walked freely through the school yard. No one batted an eye at us. The first place we walked over was the beach. Before walking to the sandy beach, we took off our shoes. The sand was hot, but the air here was different as it smelled like ocean. It felt fresher somehow.

A volleyball rolled right in front of us and the next moment came a shout "Hey, can you pass it over, please?"

Jude leaned down, picked up the ball and threw it as hard as he could back to the kids, who were playing volleyball. The ball didn't flew all the way to the field, but the players were happy enough that it was closer than before.

"Thanks!" A boy with dark hair, who went after it, called back as he picked the ball up

Once we reached the water, we enjoyed the view for a moment as we stood with our bare feet in the water we turned back. There were two kids, a boy and a girl, sitting on the beach, kissing. It might not be a student, but someone was in the water, surfing. Couple of more kids were walking along the beach with backpacks on their backs.

We walked over to one of the free tables that were in the yard and sat down, so we could put our shoes back on.

"I want to take a look inside," Jude told me while brushing his hand up against his foot to get the sand off.

I pulled out my phone, and checked the time "Okay, but 15 minutes tops."

I had used my first salary to buy myself the tech. I was working part-time at the drop-in center. At first it was a community work my PO suggested I do after my release from Juvie, but eventually it turned into a job. I worked there Tuesday to Thursday from 4 to 8PM, but on Saturday from 10AM to 3PM. I wasn't earning much, but it was enough for Jude and my own lunch money for school. It took a small load of dad's chest. It may only seem like few hundredth dollars, but it was in fact more. It made me feel more independent.

"Awesome!" Jude cheered in excitement and jumped up from the bench

Even thought I don't think it's illegal or we could arrested for it, it still made my heart pump blood faster through my veins walking through school halls which I don't attend. The hallways were wide. Inside of the school was as new looking as from the outside. Light color walls, lots of windows, filled with flowers. I could feel the ocean air in the school as well. It felt so refreshing compared to the stuffy air in my school hallways. It must have a working AC installed as well.

We walked where my nose showed me. Turning left and right in the halls. This school had a computer class which was complected with new age technologies, not half working computers like in my school. They had a fully equipped chemistry, biology, physics classrooms. Huge library. Schools gym was well equipped as well. When we peaked inside it, there was a wrestling practice going on. Few classrooms had interactive boards instead of the boards you can write with chalk on. None of the lockers that we had walked pass were damaged or tagged. All of the locks were there and they looked in perfect shape.

Jude and I stopped at an information board in the hallway. Anchor beach offered so many after class actives. We saw flayers about chess, drama, surfing, anime, art, photography and writing club. There was something called - STEM – I have no idea what it means, but it sounds a club for smart people. It also offered a debate club. Kids here have the opportunity to learn different kind of music instruments, like, piano, drums, violin, guitar. A group called _Someone's little sister_ is looking for a new drummer. For jocks, there's volleyball, basketball and wrestling teams for both boys and girls. And of course dance team and a cheerleader squad.

While Jude was busy examining the photos next to the information board, I noticed that they had a schedule of teachers consultation times. Someone named Mrs. Timothy had one at Monday at 5:00PM, but Thursday at 3:15PM. A woman named Mrs. Greene was tutoring in math on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4PM and Fridays at 3PM. Mr. Goodwill had one on each day from 3-4PM, he teaches Chemistry. The list goes on and on.

This school was really interested in the students lives. Besides the club list and upcoming event list, there were also flayers and booklets about anti-bullying, depression, stress, flue shots, hygiene, contraception.

After I had read everything there was to read I turned to my brother "Jude, it's time to go," I called out to my brother, who was at the other end of the information board

He walked up to me "This school is amazing!" He beamed as we walked towards the exit "It's my favorite from all!"

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive," I replied, pushing the doors open for Jude, right when the school bell rang.

A conversation got both of our attention, the second we were outside. A woman from the school administration was telling parents and their child about the entrance examination test every kid has to pass to get inside.

At the sound of the woman telling it was a math test, Jude's shoulders slumped down instantly, the bright and wide smile faded away from his face and the hope in his eyes disappear.

 _Poof_ – just like popping a balloon, I saw my brothers dream of attending this school vanish into thin air.

He was devastated at those news, because math is the one subject that he has been struggling with since grade one. I have always helped him with his homework, but it's not enough. I'm not good enough of a tutor to him, because often, I end up doing the exercises for him instead of letting him figure it out by himself.

"Jude...Jude!" I called after my brother, who had taken off running towards the street leaving behind only wind. At the uproar I made, everyone in the radius turned to me, to see what the fuss was all about. I do not like being in the center of the attention. Avoiding everyone's eyes, I tilted my head down and walked out of the school premise feeling everyone's eyes digging in the back of my head.

I caught up with Jude at the intersection. He was patiently waiting for the green light.

"I don't want to talk about it," Jude stated the second I stopped by his side. We walked home in silence as I honored his request, even thought I had a lot of thoughts on my mind, that I wanted to share with him.

Just by taking one look at him, I could tell he was still taking it by his heart. Probably telling himself - he's not smart enough. I've told him over and over again, how smart and capable he is. But I don't think he's really listening to me. He hears me, of course, but he doesn't believe it himself. The problem is that, when it's coming from a relative, people sometimes don't value it, thinking the person is required or obliged to say it.

When we got home, to the same house we grew up in before the tragedy happened, Jude went straight to his room.

"You are smart enough to get in that school!" I reminded my brother, when he was one foot in his room. Jude paused in the doorway at the sound of my voice, making me believe that my words actually stuck on him and didn't just flew in one ear and out through other. He took the next step, disappearing in his room and closed the bedroom doors behind him.

Dad wasn't going to be home for another hour or two, so I decided to work on my homework for Monday in the living room. I tossed my bag on the couch, sat down next to. Reaching for the remote, I turned on the TV for some background noise. Surfing through the channels, I stopped to a one where the reality TV show _The Bachelor_ was on. Entertaining, but not enough at the same time to fully avert my attention away from my homework. I put my books on the coffee table and started with math.

* * *

Donald walked through the door few minutes before 8PM. I watched from the couch, how he went straight to the kitchen, to fridge. Grabbed a beer, opened it with his bare hand and came towards living room. Dad smelled like sweat, oil and exhaust fumes from working in a garage. His hands were dirty, dirt underneath his nail and palms covered in oil. It was hard to get it all off. He was working as a car mechanic at the same place he worked before. The difference - he now earned less and worked longer hours.

"What are you watching?" he asked sitting down next to me, then raised the bottle up to his lips

"Nothing," I replied looking up to the TV. I handed the remote to him, knowing he enjoyed TV at evening as a way of relaxing after work. He started switching through the channels for something else.

"Is your brother home?"

"Yeah. He's in his room," I answered nodding towards his room

"How was school?"

"Fine," My answer was dry and lacked any insight, because I knew he didn't really want to hear me go on and on about it.

"Good, that's good," he drank some more of the beer

"How was work?" I asked in return

"Nothing new. Fixed a couple of cars," Dad responded and stopped at a sport channel where a football match was on.

"I'll go start the dinner," I informed him, putting away my school stuff in my bag so it doesn't get in way.

Dad stretched his legs out to the coffee table the second I had gathered everything clearing up the table. Jude came out of his room, when I started to work on dinner. He helped me set the table, but then went to sit down next to dad and watched the game with him even though he did not like or enjoyed sport. All he wanted was to spend some time with dad. Dad commented and expressed his thoughts about how unskilled the players were, while finishing his drink.

Dinner was quiet. The silence was depressing and somber. It has been that way for weeks now, moths. I absolutely hated it. Now, sitting together at one table felt like a burden. The family dinner together felt forced. Like something we had to do, not wanted to do. Slightly uncomfortable as well, because between the three of us we couldn't really find anything to discuss.

We are a family...we were one at least. There was once a time, when laughter and chatter was heard in this room. We could talk for hours. Laugh till our stomachs hurt and tears ran down our cheeks. We hugged, we showed affection to each other, we paid attention to each other.

But now...it felt like we are strangers.

In a way, I understand why it feel that way. Dad is not the same after spending years in jail. Prison changes person. No matter how long a person spends in there. Jude and I have changed because of our time spent in foster care and also because we both grew up. We all have our own experiences that have shaped us.

Jude thanked me for the dinner and left to his room. Leaving me alone with dad.

Donald pushed his chair back, thanked me as well and made his way to the fridge again. At the sound of him opening his second beer bottle of today, I spoke up "We went to Anchor Beach today."

With his elbow he pushed the fridge doors close and turned to me "Anchor beach?" He sounded confused "What's that?"

"A school in Mission Bay," I explained turning around in the chair to see him. He leaned back at a counter.

"Hmph," I watched how he took a sip and quench his thirst for the alcoholic beverage as he took a moment to wrap his head around what I was telling him "Callie, I'm tired," he told me afterward "Can we talk about it tomorrow?" he ran his free hand over his almost bald head

"Jude liked it. Loved it, actually," I told him nevertheless "It's a great school. Much better than the public schools we had looked at. Jefferson including."

"I thought you agreed about sending him to Jefferson?" he said in his habitual slow speaking manner

"If you had seen it," I felt excited telling him about it, but none of my excitement got transferred over to him, his eyes remained unbiased "You would have loved it as well. It's a charter school and -"

"Charter?" Dad stopped me "Honey..." he leaned off the counter and added in a hushed voice after glancing to the hallway to make sure Jude's not there "You and me both know, he could never get in a charter school."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," I got up to my feet "I think, we should get Jude a tutor in math. Just for the summer. So he could get in and then-"

"Cal...we can't afford it!" Dad shook his head "We're barely holding on as it is. Most of the money goes to food, bills, paying for the house..."

"I know, but...I thought we could save some up-"

Donald sighed "There's nothing to save on. You know that."

"If we put 10 to 30 dollars away each week it would be enough."

"No capable teacher is ever going to tutor a kid for 10 dollars an hour. They will want 50 at least. If we take only 3 hours in a week it sums up to over 500 dollars a month. I get that you want what's best for Jude, trust me, I do to...but I know our budget...I know our income. We can't afford it," Dad reasoned back

I lost my temper and snapped back gesturing to the bottle in his hand "Yet we can afford two six-packs of beer in a week just because you want it! Nice priorities, dad. Alcohol over your sons education!"

We spent the next minute staring at each other in an overpowering silence, until I finally spoke up "Go watch your game!"

I turned my back to dad, not being able to look him in the eye any longer. My jaw was clenched form the tension. Hands pulled in fists. It was his son's education we were talking about, but he wasn't even going to think about investing some money in it. It made me furious to say the least. Saddened as well, because if it was mom I was talking about it - she would have agreed with me.

When I started to gather up the dishes, I heard dads footsteps leading across the hall to the living room. He left without saying anything.

If dad is not going to help, I'll figure it out on my own. I'll get Jude a tutor. My new goal was making sure Jude could attend Anchor Beach in the fall.


	4. Chapter 4

Lena POV

I was standing in the dim and quiet garage, looking down at the carton box in front of me.

The carton box was filled with baby clothes we had bought getting excited for the newcomer in the family. On top was the blanket with a lion face. Underneath it were multiple baby clothes, few bibs, toys the other kids had brought thinking they were about to have a younger sibling, pacifiers. The crib toys that I accidentally activated played soft, jingly and happy tones that now seemed to be haunting me and I couldn't wait for them to stop playing.

I had gathered everything we had bought couple of days after I returned home from hospital and put it all in this box. Carried it away to the garage so that I didn't have to see these objects every day, when I open my closet. The thought underneath my actions - out of sight, out of mind – didn't work. Even without seeing these objects in my daily life, didn't stop the pain I felt about loosing Frankie. Everyday I woke up with a feeling that there is a hole in my heart, where Frankie needed to be. And so far, nothing could mend it. Doubtfully something or someone ever will.

The garage doors open and the floorboard under my wife's foot made a sound "Here you are, love. I've been looking for you," Stef said as she walked up to me "What are you doing?" she wondered and kissed my cheek from behind me, then stood next to me.

"I want to donate these," I informed her and looked to her, wanting to see her reaction.

Her opinion on this matter to me. Stef had bought the lion blanket for Frankie on Christmas. I thought it was the sweetest thing and adored it. One week after we lost Frankie, I found Stef sitting in the middle of a puddle under the sink in our bathroom, crying her heart out into the blanket. All she wanted to do was fix the damn sink, but it lead to her finally breaking down about our loss.

"If that's what you want..." Stef replied reaching for the lion blanket. Now holding it in both of her hands she seemed to be lost in her own memories about it.

"Would you be okay with it?" I placed my hand on Stef's back and gently rubbed my hand up and down "If you aren't, you can tell me."

"Uh," she ran her fingers over the lion face feeling the soft fabric "I'm...I'm okay with it, love," Stef confirmed setting the blanket down in the box "It's gathering dust here anyway. There is probably a new teenage mom out there somewhere, who could use all of this stuff more than us."

"That's what I was thinking," I agreed "Someone out there must have a use for a new baby blanket, a clean bib or a new pacifier. All this is brand new, never used."

It didn't seem fair. Some woman don't even want a baby, but they have one, while other woman want to have a baby, but can't. Others can't afford to raise a child, but still have multiple kids, who live in poverty, while others, like me, can afford it, but end up not needing all the stuff we had bought. Life is not fair. That much was clear. I felt envious of other woman, who get to carry their child full term and watch them grown up. I was especially envious of woman who don't deserve and weren't fit to raise a child. It made me wonder – what did I do to deserve this?

"You would be doing a wonderful thing, love," Stef reached for my hand. I smiled at Stef, thankful that I had a such an amazing person by my side, and leaned in to Stef for a much needed hug. Stef held me in her strong arms tightly as we stayed in each others embrace for well over a minute.

* * *

I parked almost right next to the entrance of a drop-in center. It's not often that I have to drive pass this place, but whenever I do, I always see teenagers coming and going in this place. After I had looked up the place on the web, I found out that it's a drop-in center mostly for kids, who are orphans, foster kids or other kids, who come from bad families. It's a place, where kids can hang out afters school or on weekends, socialize with other kids and get help, support and guidance, whenever needed. Kids can take a shower here, have a hot meal and sleep.

Before actually taking all of the stuff inside, I went inside to check if they even need baby clothes. It might be they aren't taking donations in form of clothing.

Walking inside, I was surprised by how many kids were there. I counted at least 15. There were kids, who could be as young as 10, but few of the oldest seemed to be in their early 20's. Two boys were playing table tennis in what seemed to be a game room, couple of kids sat at the large table in the main room and were doing homework together. At the far side of the main room, in the corner, sat a girl reading a book with earphones on. Two teenagers walked pass me, heading out, while chatting about a rock group, they both liked. This drop-in center was full with life and not at all, like I had first expected it to be.

A young boy, with a short brown hair was sitting at the desk that seemed to serve a purpose of a front desk. There were piles of documents, forms and papers on it, as well as phone, pile of sticky notes, booklets. At one of the corner stood a today newspaper and few magazines.

The boy, who was sitting at the desk, was wearing a red long sleeve shirt with white stripes. He was too carried away with his comic book he was reading and hadn't even noticed me standing by the desk, observing him. He couldn't be older than 13, so I doubted if he was working here. I noticed that his hair looked to be cut by a non-professional. The front hair was uneven and it looked a bit funny. Maybe he cut it himself with the first razors he had next to him. It was his haircut and the red shirt with white stripes that I recognized him by.

I remember seeing the boy at the Anchor Beach yesterday. I believe his name was Jude. The girl, who was with him, called after him as he ran away from the school premise, that's know I knew his name. They had been wandering around the school yard and school itself for over half-an-hour, while I was giving a tour around the school for a prospect student and his parents. There was no doubt about it – neither of the kids attend Anchor Beach. I know all of the kids, who go to Anchor Beach. They have all sat in my office at least one time, when they first came to Anchor Beach. Others have been in my office more than one time, few others too often for my liking. I don't recall ever seeing them in my office. Jude hand ran off before I could talk to him, followed by the girl, possible, sister, who was with him.

Jude was reading a comic book S _piderman._ I knew the comic book. It was created by Stan Lee. Main protagonist was Peter Parker aka the _Spiderman_. It was a very well known comic book. Popular among teenagers. Jesus used to love those comics. We used to buy him all of the issues. He has piles of comics underneath his bed. He dragged Mariana and Brandon to the movie theater to watch the newest movie with him. Mariana only liked it because of the cute actor who played _Spiderman_ , Brandon didn't enjoy it, because superhero movies were simply not his things.

My desire of wanting to talk to him, grew the longer I watched him. He had cough my attention from the first time I saw him. There was something innocent about him, but at the same time, his eyes held sadness as well.

"Who is the antagonist in this issue – Venom?" I asked getting the boys attention as I gestured to the comic book "Lady Octopus?" I guessed further recalling the few villains that I knew off "Sandman?"

"Hydro-man!" he answered looking at me with his big eyes, they were sparking. I was surprise that he even looked up to me, because his eyes seemed to be glued to the comic a moment ago.

To me, it was obvious, he did not recognize me from yesterday. Not that surprising.

"I don't remember that one," I answered honestly, not recalling Jesus telling me about the arch enemy "What's his superpower?"

"He has the ability to control water. _Spiderman_ is actually responsible for creating him. Moris was crewman on a ship. _Spiderman_ was fighting with Namor and accidentally knocked Moris into the ocean where powerful experimental generator was being tested. Combined with radiation and bacteria he gained the superpowers," he explained with ease and excitement like any kid would, when asked about their favorite book, movie, music or any other thing they enjoyed

"Oh, interesting," I smiled at him

"You are probably looking for someone who works here," he said after observing me. Putting his comic book down, he stood up "I'll go get someone for you. Please wait here."

"Okay," I answered as I watched how the boy walked off to the next room

While I waited around, I returned my attention to the desk. I averted my gaze to the newspaper that stood open by the side of the desk. There were multiple advertisements circled with blue pen in the newspaper. Some had an X crossed over. Curiously, I leaned over the desk to read what was circled.

"Can I help you?" I heard a girl's voice from behind me and I spun around to see, who was talking to me. Jude came up to the desk, grabbed the comic book and went to find a chair to sit down and read his comic book.

Turing around, I was faced with a teenage girl, who was holding a pile of books. The books all looked to have served their time. Banged up corners. Slightly yellowish pages.

I recognized her as the girl, who was with Jude at the Anchor Beach. To be honest, I never would have guessed she was working here. She might as well be one of the kids who came here for help.

"Do you work here?" I asked to make sure

"I do, yes. How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you take donations."

"We take everything," she replied walking towards a bookshelf. I followed her.

The girl started to put put the books from her hands to the shelves, organizing them "Did you have anything specific on your mind?" she asked, briefly looking at me over her shoulder, but continuing her work

"Baby clothes and some other baby stuff" I answered somewhat wary at first

She put the last book away and turned to me "Do you have them with you?" the girl asked "I would like to sort through the clothes first before accepting them to make sure they are decent. One time a woman dropped off two bags of old clothes, most of them were moth-eaten."

"Oh, gosh! That's horrible," I gasped at the story horrified that people, who do stuff like that, exists "I have everything in my car. It's right outside. I can bring them in and you could check them," I pointed over my shoulder to the hallway I came in

"That would be great. Thank you," she smiled at me and then offered "Need any help getting them in?"

"Oh, no...it's just one box. I'll be right back," I replied and hurried back to my car to get the box.

When I returned back to the drop-in center, now carrying the box full of baby stuff in my hands, the girl I spoke to before was clearing off a desk the boy had sat before.

"Set it down here," she instructed placing a pile of documents in a top drawer

I set the box down on the cleared area. The girl pulled the box a bit closer to her and looked inside "Okay. Lets take a look," she reached in and pulled out the first baby clothe. Her hand went for the tag, that was still attached to the cloth. She briefly averted her look to me, but didn't say anything. Neither did I. I watched her look through the rest of the stuff thoroughly.

It didn't take long for her face fall at the realization that everything in the box was brand new and not used. Lowering the baby clothes down to the table, she said in a low voice, stunned by the revelation and what it most likely meant "It's all brand new."

"Um..." I got sentimental and teary eye quickly "Yeah...sort off," for some reason I chuckled, while all I wanted to do was cry "I figured someone else could use all of it," reaching in the box myself, I took out the lion blanket and felt it soft fabric "How can anyone not love this, right?" I raised the blanket up so that the girl would see the cute lion face on the end of the blanket

The young girl seemed to be at loss of words for a while "I'm..I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," I held the tears back

"Are you sure you want to give all of it away?" the girl asked holding on to the side of the carton box

"Ye-yeah...yes," I stuttered, still holding on to the lion blanket. There was an invisible force, stopping me from giving the blanket away. Rest of the clothes didn't seem as in important like the blanket Stef had bought. It held more meaning, it was more valuable for me.

Wiping a tear away with my finger, I admitted quietly, hoping the girl would understand and wouldn't question why I wanted to keep one of the items "Actually…this –I want to hold on to this."

"Of course," she offered me a sympathetic and genuine smile, but continued on in grateful manner "Thank you for these! We had a new teenage mom, who came in looking for baby clothes the other day. She will love these. Thank you!"

"You are welcome," I whispered still with a lump in my throat as I folded the blanket and held it tightly in my hands, afraid to loose it

Glancing at the opened newspaper on the desk, my curiosity got the best of me all while giving me way to change the subject "Are you looking for a teacher?"

"I'm sorry?" she frowned and looked at me confused

"The newspaper. I noticed you had circled the ads where people offer their help as tutor," I gestured towards it, she looked down to the paper "Are you looking for someone to help these kids with studies? Because if you do, I think I might be able to help you."

"Oh, uh..." The girl reached for the paper, folded it and set it back down "Not exactly. Not for work here, but for my brother," she admitted somewhat gingerly about sharing the information with me. She glanced to someone behind me. Looking over my shoulder to see, who she was looking at, I saw the same boy, with whom I had spoken before about the comic book. I was right, they were siblings. A smile blossomed out on my face as I watch him read his comic with the same exact excitement in his eyes like Jesus, when he was younger.

"He's struggling with math. I would tutor him myself, but I'm not a very good teacher," she lifted the newspaper up again and waved it in the air "The main problem is money. We can't afford to pay what all of these people want."

"I used to be a math teacher for over 10 years. Now I'm a vice-principal," I replied as I returned my gaze back to here "If you need a tutor, I would be happy to help."

"How much would you want for an hour?" She questioned now holding the newspaper in between her hands "The best we can do is 30. I know it's not much, but that's all we can afford and-"

"Pro Bono!" I cut her off

"You mean...for free?" she seemed very septic about it. I could tell she did not believe that anyone would be willing to tutor for free.

"Yes," I nodded my head "I could tutor him Wednesdays after school time, say...around 5PM, and Sundays around 11AM? Here?"

The girl looked at me in disbelief "Are you for real?" she was still stunned by my offer

"Yes!"

"I'm sorry, I still can't believe this," she admitted "I've been trying to find a tutor for a week...and then you just walked in here and...boom!" she gestured to me and blossomed out in a smile "I don't know what to say."

"Say you agree," I smirked at her, wanting to get this _job_ more than anything. For some reason, the boy had left a huge impact on me, despite the fact that we barely interacted. The last time I felt such a strong connection to help someone, was when Stef introduced me to the twins. My heart, my brain and my gut all told me to get involved. If not through tutoring, then at least coming back to this drop-in center some more and getting to know these kids. I felt a strong urge to take the boy under my wing.

"Yes, of course I agree," a big smile spread from one ear to other.

She grabbed a sticky note and scribbled her name and number on it, then handed it to me "That's me - Callie," she pressed her index finger to her chest and grinned at me "And that's my phone number. If you change your mind or can't make it, please give me a call."

"How about I call you right now, so that I don't lose your number," I pulled my phone out and dialed her number to save it and add it to contacts.

Her phone rang, playing the classic Samsung tune. She ended the call and started to tap on her phone screen "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Lena," I said simply at first "Lena Adams Foster."

At the sound of my surname the girl stopped typing, looked up to me and froze. Her eyes glued on me, but her mouth slowly parted. I had never see someone react to my name that way before and I had no idea what her reaction meant.


	5. Chapter 5

Lena POV

"Is everything okay?" I asked after Callie hadn't said a word or typed into her phone for quite a few seconds, the pause from her seemed too long for me and I started to feel slightly uneasy, not to mention confused "Did I say or do something?" I questioned further not understanding her reaction

Suddenly she shook her hear and it finally felt like she was here, present, with me again "Oh, I'm sorry. I know someone by your name," she quickly corrected herself "I mean...surname!"

Callie started to speak in short sentences and in fast manner, adding constantly more information to her previous statement "Also a woman. She's a cop actually. Officer Stefanie Adams Foster. Not like the other cops I've met. She's different. Bette!" Her face lighted up and a smile broke out as she spoke about her "Very sweet and kind. One of the good ones. Almost, too good to be true. Same as you!" I couldn't help but to smile at the girls small compliment. It's a good feeling, being recognized and valued. Especially when it comes from kids.

Stef told me about this one girl she met on job last week- Callie Jacob. She gave me no description about her appearance, but I could bet my life on - the girl in front of me was the same girl Stef met last week. I could ask Callie her surname to make sure, but I didn't need any more proof than the way she spoke about my wife. It was her. Now that we both have ran into the girl - I got a feeling that we were meant to cross path.

"Do you know her?" Callie wondered all of a sudden "Nah, I doubt it," she shook her head, before I could answer her "There are probably like 10 other Adams Fosters out there.. Like Scott or Brown or Lopez," Callie briefly looked down to her phone, but later returned her gaze back to me "Anyway...Sorry about my rambling."

"It's weird…" I spoke up with the intent to get Callie's undivided attention

"What is?" Callie wondered as she finished editing my contact in her phone and looked back up to me

"Hearing you call her by her full name - Stefanie," Callie tilted her head slightly to one side, her forehead was now frowned, eyes slightly squinted as she continued to listen to me "I only use her full name, when I'm mad or upset with her. Beside me, the only person, who calls her by her full name is her mother."

"You-" she put her phone in her back pocket, for a second pointed at me and said full of excitement "You know her?"

"I know her," I grinned at the girl, my love for my wife showing in every possible way "I've been married to her for almost 2 years now, but we have been together for more than 10."

Callie glanced to the hallway where the exit was and asked with hope radiating from her eyes"Is she waiting in the car?"

I sighted, hating to tell her that she's not "No, she's at home with our kids."

"Oh, yeah… of course," Callie replied in a low voice as she averted her look down to the desk between us

"I have to get back to work," Callie told me once she looked to me. Without a doubt, it was a way to end our conversation about Stef. I could tell, Callie didn't want me to see how upset she had became. Simple wish to see and talk to Stef had gotten her so excited, but now she seemed disappointed. I couldn't help but to wonder to myself, where had they met, which resulted in creating such a strong connected to Stef. It must have been extremely emotional moment. If Stef had met her multiple times, there is no doubt about it - she would remember the girl. If it had been recent, the same applies. My only explanation was that either their meeting had been very brief and they barely spoke. Stef's action must have spoken values for Callie. The only other explanation was - they met a long time ago, back when Callie was much younger. Maybe even younger than Jude is now. That would explain why Stef doesn't recall her. It's hard to recognize the same child after just 5 years if during this time the child grew up.

Callie lifted up the box of clothes I had donated, focusing her eyes on it "Till Wednesday, 5 o'clock?"

"Yes, till Wednesday," I confirmed

"Thanks again for these. We appreciate the donation," Callie thanked me again as she walked around the desk with the box in her hands

I watched how she carried the box away. She stopped briefly by her her brother, who was still fully occupied by the comic book, and spoke to him. Despite the fact there were at least ten other kids in this room alone, my eyes were only on the two siblings. Whatever Callie told Jude, was enough for him to take his eyes off his comic and look up to his sister, but then to me.

With a smile on his face he waved his hand at me "Bye!"

"Bye," I mouthed as I waved back at him. Averting my eyes to his sister, I noticed her smiling. That was until she saw me watching me. She turned and walked towards the room in back. Jude resumed reading his comic.

I took it as my cue to leave.

As I was leaving the building, I wanted nothing more for it to be the next Wednesday, so I could see and talk to these kids again.

Stef POV

When I pulled up to the drop-in center after my shift, I felt slightly nervous about meeting Callie again. I still haven't figured out from where I know her. It's not a nice feeling, when the other persons remembers you, but you are completely clueless. I doubt she would just tell me. She probably wants me to remember on my own. If I don't remember, I'm afraid Callie will take it as a sign she's not important enough to be remembered and feel worthless. I don't want her to think that.

I grabbed the disposable coffee paper cup holder, which contained four cups, locked my car and headed towards the drop-in center, now feeling rather enthusiastic about seeing and talking to Callie.

"Fucking cop!" I heard a teenage boy mutter to his friend, who walked towards me in the hallway, heading towards the exit

His friend tapped him on his shoulder "Let's get out of here before we get arrested!" I cursed to myself, hating that it was the first thing they thought of, when seeing a cop. I hated that they were afraid.

"Agreed. Come on!" the other said before the doors slammed close behind them

I took a breath as I continued to walk down the hallway. A lot of these kids have crossed path with police. Some multiple times. All of a sudden I wished I had changed out of my uniform before coming here. If I was in casual clothes I wouldn't been seen as an enemy. The last thing I want is to scare any of these kids. But then again, at least now I have a chance to prove to these kids that not all of us are bad. There are a lot of us, who truly care, who are not indifferent and who do not judge and condemn.

When I walked into the main room, no one noticed me as everyone was occupied in their own way. People are coming and going constantly, so when someone walked in the room, they weren't alerted. They kept doing what they were doing. Some were doing homework, other listened to music on headphones, some were reading, two young girls were drawing and colouring together.

I saw Lena sitting at the end of the table that was placed in the middle of the room. She was leaned on the table, pointing in a math book and was explaining something to a young boy, who was all ears, listening closely to every word Lena said. Lena answered all the questions from the boy that followed after she was done explaining everything.

Looking around the room, I saw Callie watching her brother from a corner in the room, by a cabinet with a glass doors. It looked like some sort of accessories storage. She was holding a clipboard in her hands, which made me think she was doing inventory of some sort. There was a pen stuck to the top of the clipboard.

The way she was watching out for her brother, was like a mother would keep an eye out for their kid, who is playing in the playground by themselves for the first time. Nothing but love and concern in her eyes. Keeping her distance so that he does feel more independent, but at the same time, being close enough to intervene or help if needed.

I have seen that same look in Jesus and Mariana's eyes as well. Back when they first came to stay with us. At first they barely left each others side. Too scared to let each other out of their sight, afraid their sibling would be hurt. Thankfully over time they started to lean to trust Lena and I that their twin will be safe with us and nothing bad will happen if they aren't together for a couple of minutes.

This was the first tutoring lesson with Lena, so I understand her worry. She wanted to see if Jude is comfortable with Lena, if things were going like they were suppose to. I was sure that over time, after couple of tutoring lessons, Callie have come to trust Lena.

I walked over to Callie, holding the coffee in front of me "Need a coffee break?"

My sudden appearance startled her. Her head snapped to me. For a fraction of second I saw panic and fear in her eyes. But thankfully, it all disappeared the moment she realized, who was standing in front of her. Once again, I witnessed the happiness she felt, when running into me. The corners of her lips turned upwards, forming a bright smile.

"Is that really coffee?" she asked slightly skeptical. Until now, I had no idea if she drank coffee, but after I noticed her eyes lighting up at the mention of coffee, I came to a conclusion she does like the dark, highly addictive drink. Strangely enough, I found myself not liking the fact. We don't allow our kids to drink it and I felt an urge to try and convince her to drop the habit. If she lived under my roof, there would probably be a strict one cup rule if I would not have succeeded in talking her out of drinking the black beverage.

"No," I answered looking down to the two cups "Cacao," Lena had suggested I brink a cacao, because she had found out shorty before starting the first tutoring session Jude loved the drink. It seemed like a nice way to start a friendship, sharing a favourite drink.

I grabbed one of the cup, lifted it out of the paper holder and handed Callie. She pressed the end of the clipboard to her stomach while holding it at the other end with her left hand and reached for the drink with her right.

"Thanks," Callie said before taking a sip "Your wife did mention you might stop by, but, to be honest, I didn't really believe you would."

"Have I given you any reason to doubt me?" I wondered, my eyebrows raised up slightly and tilted my head lightly to one side as I watched the girl closely

"No, you haven't," Callie answered starting to my eyes "But others have."

"Well, whoever those people were, they are idiots!" I stated, making Callie smile back

"How about I bring these to our friends, and then we can sit down and chat for a moment? Sounds good?" I suggested after looking over my shoulder to Lena and Callie's brother, who were studying hard at the table. Callie agreed with me and followed me as I went over to them.

"Anyone ordered cacao?" I announced myself, when I was few steps away from Lena and Callie's brother

"Hi, love!" Lena said before I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss to her lips "This is for you," I handed one drink to Lena, then turned to the boy

"I thought you guys needed a break," I looked to my wife and the boy she was with "You must be Jude!" I was happy to finally be able to meet the boy Lena had talked so much and passionately about

He nodded his head, but his eyes briefly averted to the two remaining drinks, obviously hoping one of those cups would be for him "I'm Stefanie, but you can call me Stef."

"You like cacao?"

"Yes, it's my favourite!"

"Then you will probably like this," I handed one of the cups to him "Still hot cacao, so be careful not to burn yourself."

Before taking it from my hand, he glanced to Callie for guidance - if he was allowed to. Callie nodded her head before taking a sip of her own drink, telling her brother he can take the drink for the kind stranger he just met.

"How's it going?"

"We're going over the basics," Lena answered looking at Jude

"It's hard!" Jude spoke up averting his eyes down to the book

"Tell me about it," I agreed "But Lena is a good teacher. Trust me. She taught me a lot of things," I winked at my wife, who simply smiled shaking her head lightly at my comment "Okay, we will let you continue," I said wanting to talk to Callie alone for a minute and not wanting to further disturb their learning session. From what Lena had told me, Jude was struggling with math and really needed all the help he can get to attend Anchor Beach in the fall.

"Is there someplace we can sit down?" I asked turing to the young girl

"We can go outside," Callie suggested "I'm just going to put this down first," she raised the clipboard up. I followed Callie to another desk, where she set the clipboard down. On the desk, I noticed an open Geography book, next to it was a notepad, where a lot of facts had been written down.

"I have a test on Friday," Callie commented noticing my interest in her notes

"Shouldn't you be studying then, instead of working?"

"I am. It's all in here already!" Callie tapped her finger to her temple "Ask me anything."

I set my drink down, grabbed her notebook and scanned the notes for a question to ask "Location of the largest Archipelago? In the count of islands not area." I set the notes down and picked up my cacao. Waiting for her answer, I took a sip.

"Easy...that's in Norway sea. I believe it's called simply - Norway Archipelago," She answered with ease

"Alright, smarty pants," I smirked at her, Callie beamed back proud "Lead the way."

I followed Callie down the hallways. We exited the building from to the back, not the street, and took a seat at one of the benches. I was looking forward for our chat because all I've wanted ever since I ran into her at work, I just wanted to get to know the girl better.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey, everyone. Thank you for reading and for your support. Let me know, what you think** **:)**

Stef POV

At the first glance the drop-in center backyard looked to be around the same size as our backyard. After a while it seemed slightly smaller, plus there was no garage. It was secluded from the neighbor properties with a dark brown, pointy top wood fence. Instead of grass, it was covered in dark red and gray bricks that formed modest pastern throughout. There was a small fountain in the middle of the yard. A young girl was sitting on the fountain side, dipping her fingers in the water. There were couple of small flower beds, that looked to be weeded and watered not too long ago by the fence across the yard. On the right side of the yard I saw few topiary bushes that were shaped in turns - one perfect circle ball, but then followed a tall spiral, then again a ball shaped bush. Overall I got the feeling this yard had been made for relaxation. I could still hear the cars on the street, but still, it gave me a sense of peacefulness.

"How did you end up working here?" I wondered, when I glanced to Callie, who was sitting on the bench by my right side. There was a small sapce between us as we both had respected each others private space. Unlike me, her back wasn't pressed to the backrest of the bench.

Usually if kids wanted to earn money by themselves, the most common choice was to work at a fast food restaurant, car wash, sell ice-cream at summer, wash dishes at restaurants, deliver newspapers, work in retail or behind a cash machine in any store not working in a drop-in center. Not that this was a bad place, it simply seemed like an odd choice.

"The choice to work here was made for me. I didn't want to, but no one asked me," Callie's words took my by surprise as I started to ponder, how could that be "My PO _suggested_ it to me," Callie showed comma with her right hand as she said it "Over time I grew to love this place. Now it's like a second home to me. Jude likes it here as well."

Once again she was more talkative than I had expected her to be, but I wasn't complaining. I came here exactly for this reason. To get to know her better.

"Your probation officer?" I asked to be sure I understood correctly

"Yep," Callie took a pause and sipped her drink. I took the time to finally taste my own drink as well. It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, so I took another longer and bigger sip.

"What did you do?" My curiosity got the best of me after I had already pictured multiple different ways, Callie could have gotten herself a probation officer.

"What everyone would have done," Callie stated staring straight across the yard with a distant look in her eyes "What my mom always told me to do," She added in a quieter and softer voice as she averted her eyes to me

"Look out for your baby brother?" I made an educated guess. She nodded her head confirming it, but not going into any more detail about it. It was enough for me. Callie was not a bad person, she's not a criminal in my eyes. I have always protected my family, no matter what. So I understood her choice to protect her brother even if it costs her freedom for few months. I didn't need to ask to make sure that she would do it again, if she had the chance. I knew she would protect her brother no matter the consequences for herself.

"It didn't turn out so great for either one of us," Callie said and sighted deeply as she prepared to tell the rest of the story "We got separated. I got arrested for 4 month, but Jude had to still live with that asshole."

"Who? Your dad?" I got confused. She hadn't said a single word that would tell me, who she had been living with and from whom she had to save her brother. It could have been anyone. Her dad, a relative, a family friend, a stranger on the street.

"No, dad and I hadn't reconnected back then. The asshole I'm talking about it Jim Pearson - our former foster father," Callie said with gritted teeth and anger in her voice

I would have never have guessed Callie and Jude used to be foster kids. From the day I dropped her off to school, I had always thought that she must have lived with a relative after her fathers incarceration and mothers death. Grandparents or an aunt or uncle. Maybe a family friend. Anyone, but in the foster care. Never has my intuition been so wrong. I scolded myself for being so blind and not even considering the option. Maybe I had simply told myself this lie - no, she can't be a foster kid, just can't. While I know, how harsh and rough this world can be, sometimes I still want to believe that there are times, when things work out and there are people out there, who are lucky. After this, I'm afraid, I will always think of the worst first, but only believe otherwise if I see it with my own too eyes.

"Dad visited me while I was in Juvie," Callie continued to share with me "He told me that he's working on getting us both back. And he did. When I was released, dad and Jude were waiting for me to take me home. We bought bus tickets and dad took us back home, to the same house we had lived before. Still, to this day, I don't know how he managed to get our house back. But I was glad that he did, at least we didn't have to stay with another foster family."

"How many foster families?" I asked, knowing foster kids often bounced around a lot of homes. Jesus and Mariana were lucky because I met them after their first foster parents gave up on them and dropped them at the station. They escaped the nightmare, which I was afraid Callie and Jude both had to live through multiple years.

"We were in 8 homes during our almost 6 years in foster care, plus Juvenile Detention for me. For the last year or so, we've been living with our dad."

"That's a lot of homes," I said sadly, picturing the Jacob siblings constantly packing and not being able settle down anywhere "I'm sorry you both had to go through that."

"It's fine. There are others, who have had it much worse than us," Callie lifted her cup up to her lips, took a sip and then gazed across the yard

"Still…" I sighted as I thought about the messed up system we put kids in, which is supposed to protect them, but it often fails "Were all of them bad?" I asked cautiously, watching closely how Callie reacts, because I was scared to cross the line. It might be too personal and not something she wanted to discuss and remember. Some things are better left in the past.

Callie leaned back to the backrest "No, there was this one old lady, who lived alone."

Only one good home out of eight. Now I couldn't stop thinking about, how bad were the other places - I shook my head at that thought slowly as I continued to listen to Callie.

"She was really nice and sweet," She answered with an ease in her voice like you would pour your heart out to your beset friend "Month after she started to foster us, she took in a foster kid with special needs. He needed a lot of attention and she couldn't give to him, what he needed, if she still had to look out for Jude and I. We had lived with her for almost 2 years, when she adopted our foster brother, but sent us away."

By the way Callie was telling me about it, it was pretty clear to me, she still loved the foster mother despite the fact that she chose another kid over them. Even if it didn't work out in the end, she had given them few moths of the love that had needed so badly. I wanted to believe that it gave the Jacob siblings strength to survive the rest of their time in foster care and the hope that not everyone is as bad as they make them out to be. Maybe only because of this old lady, Callie so easily trust me and opens up to me.

"It wasn't meant to be," I commented in a soft voice

"Yeah," Callie agreed nodding her head a couple of times "We ended up with dad, so it's not all bad." She didn't seem so happy, when she said it. It made me think that living with dad was not the happy ending she wanted, it simply put a stop to living with strangers and possibly enduring abuse and neglect.

"What's it like living with your dad? Is it anything like before the accident?"

Callie was quiet for a minute as she immersed in thought focusing on the paper cup in her hand. I noticed she started to rip the paper label off the drink, piece by piece. She started to nibble on her lower lip as well.

Not wanting to pressure the girl, I sat patiently waiting for her to reply, when she was ready to.

"At first I thought so," Callie answered still focusing all of her attention on the paper cup in her hand "He cleaned, cooked, did laundry, bought groceries, sometimes even waited for Jude after school just to walk him home. We used to spend time together, every now and then on weekends went to a movie or just walked to the pier all together. Dad hadn't touches a bottle in years, he was sober, which gave us both hope that everything will be okay."

Callie raised her head up and looked to me "It's not like that anymore. The CPS has backed off as well, so there's no longer that pressure on his back from them. I think he got tiered or just got bored with us. Then the drinking started. First just one beer on weekends. Soon he was drinking every other day, but now the hasn't been a day, when he hasn't opened a beer bottle. He stopped doing chores around the house and it all fell on me. Sometimes it feels like he no longer cares about us. Maybe he realized he made a mistake by getting us back. That it simply was too much for him. Living alone in a small apartment is much more easier than taking care of your two kids and keeping a house in order, you know."

"Oh, honey," I reached out to her, placed my hand on her shoulder and rubbed my hand up and down in gentle manner "I'm so sorry."

Callie sniffed and averted her gaze back down at the cup, avoiding my eyes. I felt for her, more than I ever thought I would. It wasn't fair. All the hard work ended up on her shoulders, but she's just a kid herself.

Her head snapped towards me "Please _do not_ call the CPS!" she pleaded to me with tears in her eyes in the most desperate voice I have ever heard "Jude and I are safe. He's not hurting us. We are okay! I don't want to go back into foster care!"

I felt a lump in my throat.

A small part of me felt that I should call the CPS on Donald for how he's not taking care of his children. Even if he wasn't physically hurting them, by what Callie had just told me, it did not sound like a good place for two kids to grow up. Kids need someone to look out for them, to guide them, to teach them about life. They need a guardian, despite the fact that Callie's not to far from being 18. Callie shouldn't have to do all of the chores by herself. Help every now and then - yes-, but not day after day. The fact that he had picked up drinking was a bad sign as well. There was no way of telling, when he can go off.

But on the other hand, they had a roof over their head, hot water, food, they attended school. They had everything they need to have a good life. If Donald's attitude towards his home and kids would change back to how it was at the beginning and he stopped drinking, it would be a good home. All he needed was a wake up call. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I would hate to be the reason the Jacob sibling get thrown back into foster care with strangers, who don't give a damn, neglect, ignore and abuse them. I know there are a lot of people like that out in the world. The thought of it makes me sick and angry.

"I won't," I assured her after the internal struggle I was having, but bit my tongue afterwards. In the end the wish to sooth the girl here and now had won over.

"Thank you," A tear fell down her cheek as she uttered those words. My response had clearly been a relief for her to her. It must be one of her greatest fear - going back to foster care.

To my surprise, Callie leaned towards me for a hug. I reacted quickly and hugged the girl back.

"I'm sorry about that," Callie apologize once she had ended the hug "I'm actually not a hugger," she wiped her cheek clean

"Don't worry about it," I smiled back at her glad that I could have given her a tiny bit of comfort. Reaching in my uniform shirt front pocket on my chest, I pulled out my card and handed it to her "Here, I want you to have this," I had put it there, knowing I was coming here to speak to Callie.

Callie set her cup down on the bench by her right side and reached for my business card. I had just let go of it, but Callie hadn't gotten a good hold of it, when a stronger wing blew and blew the card out of our hands.

"Oh, crap!" Callie jumped up and ran after it, before I could. It landed two steps away from us. After she had picked it up, I noticed that she had a necklace around her neck. It must have been hidden behind her shirt all this time. Now it rested on the outside of her shirt, out for everyone to see.

Time seemed to slow down the moment I saw it. My eyes were now glued to the small, golden coin pendant that was hanging at the end of her thin necklace.

"I still have the last one you gave me, actually. Kept it all the time." Callie told me as she read the card, standing right in front of me

Callie's words were the last thing I heard as my brain cut off every other noise from then on untill I no longer heard anything that was happening around me as I was lost in my own memories of the day I met Callie.


	7. Chapter 7

**PART 1 of 2**

Stef POV

I had agreed to work the night shifts for this week, because it paid more money and right now, Lena and I really needed the extra cash. With the mortgage on the house, Brandon's piano's lessons, the repairs on Lena's Volvo, legal fees for the lawyer who is helping with the twins adoption, countless doctor appointments for Jesus to find out what was wrong with him, therapy for Mariana, not to mention all the bills and everything for a daily life- it was all a bit too much for our wallets. Lena was now working as a tutor besides her teacher work at Anchor Beach, to earn some extra money as well. I was hoping she would get the vice-principal job at Anchor Beach she applied to last month. Right now, it seemed like we were living from one salary to next. We were in a rough patch. Till it passes, we both needed to work together to make it all work.

So here I was. Standing in the middle of the street in the middle of the night. Trying to wrap my head around at what I had just witnessed.

Red.

White.

Blue.

The colors from the emergency vehicles were illuminating the intersection, where the accident had occurred, nonstop for the last 20 minutes at least. People from the nearby buildings had come out to the street to see what all the fuss was about out in the street that was disturbing their Sunday evening. There were camera flashes from all around us, because people were trying to capture what was going on, so they have proof that they witnessed an accident. While for some this was a tragedy, for others it was simply a topic to talk about in the morning, on the morning commune heading to work tomorrow. It won't be long till media is all over this accident as well. There were four cars involved in this accident. Two were damaged severely, while the other two, had less damage as they had bumped slightly into other cars as they had tried to stop in time.

Last year, I participated in an event at Anchor Beach. I was one of the person, who gave a speech to the kids. Lena had asked me to come speak with the children about safety. My speech included safety in cars as well. Main topic was - seatbelts. How seatbelts can save your life. The eloquent speech I had made to the kids, was still fresh in my mind, like it happened yesterday.

Right now, I was standing right next to the paramedics by the gurney on which a woman, around my age, dressed in a black evening dress, laid motionless. They tried. The paramedics and firefighters did everything they could to save this woman, but her head injury from the car crash was too severe. There was too much blood loss, the impact in which she had crashed through the windshield with her head during the car collision turned to be lethal. She died a minute ago. Right in front of my eyes. If only she had used seatbelt...like I had told those kids in school, this could have been avoided.

Her skull had been crashed from the impact. There was a huge and deep gash on her head from which a huge amount of blood had been pouring out. Some of it had already dried down. The blood had dripped from her head, over her cheek, down her neck and onto her chest region. Her left palm hang over the side of the gurney, limp. Blood had rolled down her arm, to her fingers. I saw a small drop of blood, hanging on by the very end of her finger. As I scanned the rest of her body, I saw that she had no shoes on. They were probably pulled off when the firefighters and paramedics had been trying to get her out of the car. On her chest, rested a beautiful, small coin pendant, which was attached to the necklace she had on, but it was covered in her own blood.

One of the paramedics draped a white sheet over the woman, so that people don't have to see the horrific and traumatic sight, but also to pay some respect to the deceased. Blood soaked through the white fabric almost immediately.

"Nooooo!" I heard a man shout out in a heartbreaking manner from the other paramedic vehicle at the sight of the woman being covered "Colleen! Oh, God…Please, no!" Cries were heard afterwards that somehow managed to be heard through the loud sirens and other noises that were heard in the street.

That would be the husband, who was with the deceased woman in the car. He was also the drunk driver that caused the accident in the first place. When we tested him for blood alcohol concentration in his breath was over the legal - 0.121%. The paramedic held him back and made sure he remained sitting down because he had injuries as well that needed to be addressed, here on field, before they can take him to hospital for more serious medical examination. He will be accompanied by police officers, either me or some of my colleges, because the man will have to be taken to police station afterwards in regards the car crash he caused. To me, there was no doubt in my mind, he was going to jail. The only question was for how long.

Looking around the street, I tried to process, what I should do next. Everything around me was slightly chaotic at the moment. People were running left and right, calling out to others, who worked the scene. Firefighters were still trying to get people out from the other severe damaged car. Other officers had already secluded the area, keeping people further away from the scene, and some were interviewing other eyewitnesses. Paramedics, who had tried to save the woman, now ran off to, turning to those, who they still can help.

"Stefanie!" Paramedic named Natalia called from the other ambulance. She was working on the drunk driver. I've have known her for few years now, all through my work. Turning towards her, I saw her coming towards me. Her worried features told me, she was about to tell me some bad news. I made my way towards her and we met somewhere in the middle.

"I'm listening!" I said ready to jump into anything she needed help with. There was adrenaline still pumping in my veins. I had been the the first one on the scene, along with my partner Bob, who I was partnered with, while Mike was taking some time off to get his shit together after falling off the wagon again.

Natalia pointed discreetly over her shoulder to the sobbing man on the gurney "The man said their kids are home with a babysitter…"

"Oh, no!" I sighed closing my eyes for a second. I knew very well what it meant. Someone had to drive home and inform them. What I'm about to do - was, is and always will be - the worst part of the job. But it comes with the territory and there is nothing I can do about it. No matter how hard it is, someone has to do it.

I sighed deeply gazing out the police cruiser to the house.

It was getting close to midnight. The house, we were parked by, was one of the rare houses with the light still on. It was a one story house, same as the others in this suburban neighborhood. This place was very peaceful compared to scene we had left. No one here knew of the tragedy that had occurred. In the morning, the rumors and gossips will do what it always does - spreads the word around everyone in this block.

I started to wonder if the Jacob family was close friends with their neighbors. Did they have BBQ together? Did the kids attended each other birthday parties? Did they have sleepovers? Did men in this neighborhood, including Donald Jacob, enjoy a cold beer while they all watched baseball or football together? Did Colleen Jacob share recipes and her problems with other woman in this neighborhood?

As I looked to the room with the light on, I saw a figure stand up. It must be the babysitter, who was waiting for the parents to come back. The person walked up to the window and moved the curtain aside and watched us.

We both sat in silence for couple of seconds as we prepared ourselves for what we were about to do. Ever since Brandon was born, this part of the job, got especially hard to manage. No matter how hard I tried, I always pictured Brandon in the people's places. Now, it's even worse, because I see Jesus and Mariana's faces as well. There was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't stop my brain from going there.

"Ready?"

"Lets go," I replied climbing out of the car. The second I got out of the car, I noticed how the curtains moved again. This time, the person let go of the curtains and they fell close as the person stepped away from the window.

As I waited for Bob to come around the car, I glanced around the street that was illuminated only by the street lights. Most of the houses on this street were completely dark. It was Sunday night after all. People had jobs in the morning, school, places to be. Everyone needed good nights rest as we all now Mondays are one of the hardest days on the week. No reason to stay up too late. For these kids, who I'm about to meet, this day will turn turn to their worst nightmare.

"Right address?" I checked with Bob wanting to make absolutely sure that we were in the right place and that we won't turn this day into a complete nightmare for someone, who is not involved at all.

"Lexington st. 104?" Bob read of his notepad, where he had written it down. We both looked at the plate on the wall of the house that read the same address Bob had read out loud seconds ago.

We made our way down the path that lead up to the house. Once we reached the front doors, we both took a very typical stance for a police officer. Feet – shoulder wight. Back straight. Head up. Hands in front. Right hand pulled in soft fist, but left hand rested on top. Dead serious facial expression.

We heard footsteps almost instantly after I knocked on the doors. I decided to not ring the bell, because I was assuming the kids were asleep.

The doors were opened by a young woman. She was definitely still a teenager. The young girl looked frightened. She pulled her cartigan over her chest, not sure the reason why - was she cold because of the wind that blew outside or because she was trying to console herself, wrapping the fabric around herself, like hugging herself.

"Yes?"

"I'm officer Stefanie Foster, this is my partner Bob Salander. Is this the Jacob household?"

"Yes," she nodded her head, her eyes darted between me and my partner

"May we come inside please?"

"What is this about?" the frightened girl asked, pulling her cartridge tighter around herself

Once we were in the hallway and the girl closed the doors behind us, I elaborated about our visit "We are here about Colleen and Donald Jacob."

"Are they okay?" The young girl questioned, her eyes constantly being averted from me to my partner, then again back to me "I live next door. I'm babysitting their kids while they went out for dinner. They haven't returned yet. Usually they are back before 11. Or if they are late, they always call. Colleen always calls!" She pulled her phone out from her pocket, unlocked it and checked it again "They haven't called. I tried calling them. Multiple times. Neither one is picking up," I saw the fear and worry grow with each passing second. Her voice had become more frantic over time as she spoke.

"I'm afraid we got some bad news," Bob replied to her "Why don't we go sit down somewhere?" He said in a suggestive manner, but still was being polite and gentle

"Uh..." The girls breathing changed as it became more elaborate "Okay," She stepped aside, gesturing to the living room.

It was a small room. Looked like a typical living room. It had a large bookcase, TV, couch and two armchairs, coffee table and a small cabinet. There were pictures of the happy family in few of the book shelves, next to books and other small decorations. A plant was situated in one of the corner of the room.

"The kids are sleeping," The girl said leading us further inside. I suspected that the kids bedrooms were down the hallway, because she glanced towards there, when she said it. Probably didn't want them to wake up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name," I said softly

"Mary," she replied stopping in the middle of the living room "Mary Goldberg."

"Mary, uh…there is no easy way to say this," and there truly wasn't "There has been an accident."

"An accident?" She repeated

"Car accident," I elaborated on my answer "Colleen Jacob died on the scene!"

"...Colleen-" Mary stammered with tears in her eyes and her cheek quivered slightly "What? No, no, no – it can't be!" her right hand flew over her mouth as she tried to suppress the cry "I spoke to her couple of hours ago!"

"I'm afraid it's true," I said with my deepest sympathy

"What-what about Donald?"

"Donald Jacob is being treated in hospital right now," I answered honestly

"Oh, thank god," She breathed out relieved to hear that at least one of the kids parents was still alive

"The bad news is that," I detained a small pause "It looks like Donald will be going to jail for a while."

"What...why? Why? What did he do? I thought you said it was a car accident," Mary blurt out. From reading her face, I could tell she was very confused.

"He was intoxicated, driving under the influence, which sadly resulted in the car crash that killed his wife and another passenger, who was in the car they hit."

"Oh, god!" Mary's legs gave up as she fell down onto the couch she had been standing right in front of. Her hands now covered her face as we heard her sniffle.

"We are so sorry," I said looking down at her

"What about their kids?" Mary asked, when she took her hands away from her face and gazed up to us "Who's going to look after them?"

I took a seat next to the young girl on the couch, Bob remained standing up not far from the couch, so we wouldn't overcloud her.

"Do they have any relatives, which could look after them? Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Older siblings? Cousins?"

"No," Mary shook her head as tears fells down her cheek "There's no one!"

"What about close friends?" I questioned further, desperately wanting to find someone, who could take in the kids

"I don't know anyone," Mary replied "I mean...I'm sure they have friends, but-" she shook her head not being able to finish her thought as tears began to fall down

"I'll go inform the CPS," Bob informed us both. He left the house and walked back to our car to make the necessary calls. Just shortly after Bob left, our attention was taken by the sound of a floorboard cracking at the other side of the room.

There, in the hallway, a young girl was standing in a PJ. She was stuck close to the wall. Her long, dark hair was freely falling over her shoulders. I could see the tips, they almost reached all the way to her lower back. Only her left half of her face and body was seen as other was hidden behind the wall. By the look of fear in her face, I could tell – she heard at least part of the conversation we had with her babysitter.

"Hey," Mary quickly jumped up from the couch and wiped away the tears from her cheeks "Why are you not in your bed?" she walked towards the girl

"We heard you talking," Callie answered. Her word choice didn't slip pass me. She said – we. The next second she took a step sideways, reveling that her baby brother was right by her side. The kids were standing as close as it was humanly possible, holding each others hand.

They must have stayed up together, waiting for their parents to come back from their dinner. My own kids do that sometimes. It's rare that Lena and I allow ourselves to go out on a date. Maybe once in a 6 months. And every single time we do, the kids are up and waiting for us, despite Mike, my mom, Lena's parents or babysitter saying that they are sleeping. Unknowingly to whoever is babysitting, they start what I could call a sleepover in one of their rooms.

While it seemed that the young boy, wasn't fully aware of what was happening, I had a feeling that the girl, understood very well, what they had heard. What it meant. Maybe she had witnessed one of her grandparents death.

"I'm sorry we woke you up," Mary crouched down in front of the kids and reached out to touch their arms

"When is mommy coming back?" the question from the boy, broke my heart. It was so innocent. He was so unaware of what it all meant. He thought she was coming back.

Mary chocked up after the boys question. She simply couldn't get herself to say it.

"Hey, guys," I approached the kids slowly and crouched down to their level so I would seem more friendly and less dangerous. Mary stood up and took a step backwards, giving us some space. She was sniffing silently behind me, trying to suppress her cries.

"Are you a police officer?" the boy wondered reaching out to my badge on my shirt

"I am," I replied, allowing the young boy to touch the badge "I'm Officer Stefanie Foster."

"It is shiny," the boy said taking his hand back, once he had touched my badge

"It is," I agreed briefly looking down at it as well "My partner Bob is out by the car," I added just so they would be aware another stranger could walk into their home "Can you tell me your names?"

"I'm Callie, that's my brother Jude," the girl said looking down to her much shorter brother. I smiled at both, while dreading to tell them what happened to their parents. There was no way of knowing how these kids will react. For me, teenagers were more predictable that way.

"How about we go sit down, on the couch," I suggested to them as I briefly looked over my shoulder to the couch I had sat on not too long ago

The kids complied and both sat on the middle of the couch. Not for one second – as they walked and sat down - had Callie let go of her brothers hand. In fact she still held it tightly in hers. Callie's feet barely touched the ground as she sat on the very edge of it, but Jude's little bare feet hanged over the couch side. It seemed that, Jude was fighting back sleep. I could tell he was tiered from waiting up on his parents. Callie, on the other hand, seemed much more awake and aware. I was doubtful if she will sleep at all tonight.

"I have to tell you both something, that won't be easy to hear," I stated, my eyes moving constantly between the girl and the boy "There was an accident in which your parents were involved."

"What kind?" Callie questioned after a moment

"A car crash."

"Are they coming home soon?" Jude wondered rubbing his eyes with his free hand "I can't sleep if mommy doesn't tuck me in. It's not the same, when Mary does it."

I swallowed a lump which had formed as I listened to Jude "I'm sorry to tell you, but your mommy died in the car crash and your daddy was arrested for causing the car crash. Your mom is not coming home, but your dad...your dad is going away to prison," As hard as it was for me to say it, to break it down to them, I knew it was 100 times worse for them to hear it. They needed to hear the truth, otherwise there would be too many unanswered questions for them. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings. Or false hope.

Jude turned to his big sister, who continued to stare at me without breaking eye contact. Her chin quiver and her brows pulled together as she started to fight back tears, but I got the feeling, she wasn't going to break down crying in front of me.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said with my deepest sympathy as I slowly and carefully placed my hand on their interlocked hands. I knew coming from me, it meant absolutely nothing. They didn't need me, they need their parents.

 **To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** ** **Answer to the question - _What's the point of this story?_** I would have answered this in PM, if the question didn't come from a guest. I manged to break the answer down to three points:**

 **1)Improve my English. I use English on daily basis, like, watching movies/TV, playing games, reading technical manuals/stack overflow forums, surfing websites. Fanfiction is the only way for me to keep improving and practice my English in writing.  
**

 **2)It's fun. It came as a surprise to me at first, but writing is my hobby now. It helps me unwind after a hard day of work. Unlike at work, where I constantly need to use my logic and think of ways to solve an issue in a code, this is a way for me to use the creative side of my brain as well. I can let my imagination go wild. I could of course keep all of the stories to myself, but sharing my creation with others is part of the fun.  
**

 **3)Story for a story sake.** ** **Writing a story where the Jacob siblings live with Donald was on my mind for a long time.** I wanted to write it. It's that simple. There is no grand message or a morale in this story. I love AU's stories. I love exploring all the what if's, all the ways these characters could have met under different circumstances. Why I chose to write about the Jacob siblings? Because the way the two characters were introduced to us at first, gave me the spark responsible for me turning to fanfiction in the first place.  
**

 **Everyone can write, what they want to, so why can't I?  
**

 **If my reasons for writing this story is not good enough for you, then you can say my story is pointless and worthless.  
**

 **Story where the Jacob siblings had been adopted by Stef and Lena first and it's Mariana and Jesus, who are still in foster care, would be interesting. But I'm not going to be the one to write it. That concept doesn't spark anything to me and forcing yourself to write something just because is never a good idea. If you want to, please, go ahead. I will probably read it with great interest.  
**

 **I apologize for the long note.**

 **PART 2 of 2**

Once we had explained the situation to Captain Roberts, she instantly assign both of us to stay with the kids. Tonight, we won't respond to any other calls. These kids were our responsibility till CPS arrives. The office-worker, with whom my partner Bob had spoken to earlier, had promised to send a case worker over as soon as possible. We had no idea, when the assigned case worker will arrive. It could be in hour, it could be only in the morning.

We knew from the very beginning this task will be hard.

There was no way the kids could simply go back to beds and sleep peaceful for the rest of the night. How could they, after all that had happened? Even if they do fall asleep eventually, there is a big chance of nightmares or of waking up crying, scared and asking for their mom or dad, but only being met by strangers. Though, I do have a feeling that Jude will fall asleep pretty soon, not because he wants to, but because he's exhausted. His eyelids looked heavy, but he was trying to stay awake to be with his sister.

When we offered to watch some of their favorite movies, they declined non-verbal by shaking their heads. To be honest, if I were in their place, I would decline as well, but we had to try.

Making food was not an option as well. It was too late to make supper, but it was way too early for breakfast.

We tried to simply talk to them to pass the time, but neither were talkative. In fact, they had barely spoken a word since we told them about their parents. Their eyes were a dead giveaway, just how devastated they were by their loss. It wasn't surprising that the kids stuck close to one another and only allowed other out of their sight, when one needed to use the bathroom. The fear of losing the only family they had left was too big and neither wanted to risk it.

My partner Bob found couple of board games - Connect4, Guess Who, Jenga, Monopoly, Circus, cards and few others- but, when we offered to play any one of them, they once again shook their heads, not feeling like it.

It was almost 1AM in the night, when I found the answer of how to help them pass time. There was a book. It had slightly banged up corners, which made me think this was the book Colleen read to them regularly. As I had looked through the book, I saw couple of small daubs on few of the pages. Seeing those daubs instantly made me imagine, how Jude was looking at the images, while eating a candy, chocolate bar or drinking his juice, when small part of the food fell or dropped on the pages. Few of the corners were dog-eared, it could be a bookmark for one of the kids.

I decided to offer to read the book to them. Hearing it, might offer something familiar and comforting. Jude was the one, who agreed to it. Callie, on the other hand, seemed to only agree, because of her brother. They both got comfortable on the couch, though, neither seem too enthusiastic. I sat down on one of the armchairs and opened the book. In the first page, there was something written down with pen.

 _To our baby boy for his first birthday. Love, mommy, daddy and your big sister  
_

I took one last look at the two kids, who were on the couch, before I started to read to them "Near a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife and his two children; the boy's name was Hansel and the girl's Gretel…"

Not surprisingly, Jude was the first one, who fell asleep. Bob found a blanket and we put it over him, so he would be warm. Callie had observed us, without saying a word. Her eyes gave her away - she was grateful for how we treated her brother with care. It wasn't long for Callie to fall asleep as well. They laid on the opposite sides of the couch. Just like with her brother, we found a blanket, put it over her, but then, turned off the light and went to kitchen, letting both of the kids sleep, no matter for how short of a period that would be.

I'm not sure how much time had passed, but we heard soft sniffs coming from the living room. When I got up, ready to head over and console the crying child, Callie moved from her side of the couch, over to Jude's and laid down next to him, hugging him. Whispers, which sounded more like humming, were heard and soon the sniffing dimmed down.

* * *

It was little before 6AM, when their assigned case worked arrived. She looked experienced, processional and this clearly wasn't going to be her first case. They had already found a temporary foster home for the kids. It was located on the other side of the city. Their case worker was convinced the foster family was going to be a good fit for the Jacob siblings. Apparently the family has been fostering for a while now.

"I'm not leaving my brother!" Callie stated as she grabbed a hold of her brothers hand and stared back to their case worker after she had explained to the them – they needed to pack their bags so they could move out of the house to live with their new foster family.

"We won't split you up. You will stay together," Mrs. Hawthorn assured them, thought, I knew that promise can be broken easily. Keeping siblings together was hard, especially, when one is almost ten year old, not far from entering the so called tween years, but the youngest is five years old.

"What I need you two to do now, is pack yourself a bag. Can you do that?" Mrs. Hawthorn told them

I have never worked with her before and I can only speculate, but she does seem like she has the best interest in her heart. The woman seemed genuine and caring, which made me feel hopeful that she will take good care of the kids. Most importantly she wasn't anything like the cantankerous case worker I was forced to work with last month after arresting a teenage foster kid for vandalism. The guy clearly hated his job and he was not good with kids, which made me wonder why he had chosen that line of job in the first place.

Jude once again turned to his big sister to see what she's doing as he was not sure himself.

I could tell just by looking to Callie's eyes, that she did not trust this woman, who wanted to take them away from their home. There must be thousands of questions running in the girls head - _Where will you take us? How long will we stay there? Who will we be staying with? Are they nice? How far it's from here? What about school? What about our friends? Can't we stay here? When will dad return? Can we speak to him?_ _-_ I assume those are only few of them.

All Callie chose to say after a long pause was "Okay," in an obedient manner, possibly too tiered to argue back. She turned to her brother afterwards "Come on Jude," she helped her brother down the couch.

They got up from the couch and hand in hand walked to the hallway. Mrs. Hawthorn followed them right behind. I walked out to the hallway following them. The kids stopped walking, when they were up to their rooms. They needed to split up, so they let go of each others hands, though, it did seem they were both reluctant to do so.

"Will I need my PJ?" Jude asked returning back around, right after he had crossed the doorstep to his room

"How about I help you," Mrs. Hawthorn offered taking Jude's hand "Can you show me where your bag is?" The two walked inside Jude's room. I heard them talking even when they were out of my sight. Callie left for her own room after Jude and Mrs. Hawthorn walked into the other bedroom.

The front doors opened and Bob walked in, holding a plastic bag in his hand. He raised it up, showing it to me he got, what I had asked him to drive after, as he walked towards me.

"She didn't have much on," Bob told me as I took the plastic bag with the personal objects Colleen had on her the time of her death. Keys, phone, credit card, ID card, wedding ring, earrings and the necklace with the coin pendant. Thankfully all of the objects had been cleaned and none had blood on it. I was sure that Callie would love to hold on to something that her mom used to own. For memories.

"Thank you for getting these," I smiled kindly at my partner, who drove to get them. I couldn't bring myself to leave these kids. Even if it was just a 30 minute trip, while they were 'sleeping'.

"Least we could do for these kids," Bob replied glancing down to the objects himself

I turned on my heel and walked down the hallway to Callie's room. There was a ruffling sound coming from her room. I heard drawers being pulled open and closed, hinges squeaking, zip being pulled as the young girl searched for stuff to take along.

I made my way to the girls room and knocked on the door frame softly "May I come in?"

Callie was sitting on her knees by her closet next to a big blue duffel bag. She glanced to me, nodded back, but then returned her attention to her wardrobe. As she returned to her current task, she grabbed pair of shoes and sandals from the closet and tossed them in the bag. Then followed jeans and a dress with flower patter, something Mariana would certainly love to owe.

When I walked up to her, she had gotten to her tops and shirts. She was trying to sort out, what to take and what to leave behind. Her eyes were averted to the two shirts in her hands as she wasn't able to chose between them.

"Do you need any help?" I offered as I crouched down on the floor on the other side of the duffel bag, keeping the plastic bag with the personal affects in my hands

"No," she replied without glancing to me, keeping focused on the task at hand. Independent and stubborn - were the first traits that came to my mind afterwards. The heartbreak she felt was so tremendous that she desperately trying not to think about it, by occupying herself on her current task. Why I knew that? Because I'm the same way. When she finally does come to terms with it, she will break down. It was only a matter of times because she can't avoid it forever.

"I have something you might want," I said gingerly, keeping an close eyes on the girl, while tightening my grip on the plastic bag

"Doubt it," she replied quietly, but with a slight attitude in her voice, still not looking to me

"These belonged to your mom," I reached over the blue duffel bag handing her the bag we got from the coroners office. Once she raised her eyes up and looked at what I was giving her, she dropped the shirts down on the ground as if those were no longer important and took the bag out of my hands. Callie gazed down to it, not opening it for a long time, scanning all the items inside. Then, with a quick hand movement, she opened it, poured all of the content on the carpet and tossed the plastic bag aside. She picked out the necklace and put it around her neck.

After putting the rest of the stuff back in the bag, Callie handed it back to me "My dad might want the wedding ring."

"We'll get it to him," I answered taking the bag back, making a promise to myself

When Callie resumed packing, I heard a quiet "Thank you," from her, which made me smile sadly at her

Looking around the room, I noticed an object I didn't want her to forget. I got up, walked over to her nightstand and picked up the photo frame of her family.

"Don't forget this," Kneeling down next to her I handed Callie the photo of her family

Callie tossed a sweater in the bag before she looked at the objects I was handing her. For a long time, she simply looked at it, without reaching for the photo frame. The longer she looked at the picture I held out to her, the more closer to tears she got. I saw her chin starting to quiver. Her hand slightly trembled as she took the photo.

Finally Callie gazed to me "Why did our mom had to die? I miss her so much!" two big tears fell down her cheeks as she said it. After hours of trying to stay strong, at the visual reminded of her mom, she finally broke down.

"I know you do, Callie. I know it hurts. But...just remember - your mom is always going to be with you. In your heart, in your memories."

It seemed like, Callie no longer could keep the strong, stone cold face. Once the tears had started, she no longer could stop them from falling. One of the tear from her cheek fell down onto the glass photo frame. Not being able to simply watch the girl in front of me while she cries, I gently wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in a side hug. The mother inside me was screaming. Even though I did not know this kid, I wanted to take her pain away just like I would with my own kids. No kid deserves this. It was too sudden. They didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. There was no time for last I love you, a kiss, a hug or a simple smile.

"It will get better," I whispered to her as I soothed and comforted her the best way I knew how "One day, you will remember her and it won't hurt…"

* * *

Mrs. Hawthorn closed the trunk after she put in the two bags the kids had packed. All the Jacob siblings owned could be fit into one big blue duffle bag that wasn't even fully packed and a backpack. That's how little these kids had now.

I slipped the book "Hansel and Gretel" in one of the end pockets at the blue bag, after Mrs. Hawthorn had put it in the truck. The book was another item that could remind both of them oft heir mom. I hope it brings some sort of consolation to both of them. They could read it together and reminiscence of the times their mom read it to them before bed time.

While their case worker got Jude in his children seat, I turned to Callie, who still stood outside by the dark blue sedan that belonged to Mrs. Hawthorn and looked at their home.

"I want you to have this," I said reaching in my shirts pocket and pulling out a card

"What is it?" Callie asked, observing the card in my hand

"It's my business card. See-" I showed it to her, pointing my finger at the writing "It has my name on, the address where I work, the phone number to my job," Quickly I reached for my pen in my shirts front pocket and scribbled down my mobile number as well underneath the phone number to my job. Once I had written it down, I handed the card over to her.

Callie held it both of her hands and looked down to it "Why are you giving me this?"

"In case you ever want to talk," I replied gazing to the girl. I knew the chances of her contacting me were slim, but still, it felt better, knowing that I did everything I could in the situation.

My heart ached for them, but at this moment, no matter how badly I wanted, I couldn't help them. I wish I could have offered these kids place under our roof, but we had too much on our plates as it is. Adding two more traumatized kids, who had just lost their mother, was not something Lena and I were up for right now. We are not capable of giving these kids the help they need. I strongly believed that Mrs. Hawthorn has found the right people, who can help these kids and provide them with everything they need during this hard time of their life.

"Callie, we have to go. Your foster family is expecting you. Get in the car, please," Mrs. Hawthorn said from the other side of the car as she closed the back doors. Callie quickly shoved the card in her pocket. After taking one last look back at her home, she climbed in the backseat.

"Take good care of them!" I told Mrs. Hawthorn over the car

"I will," Mrs. Hawthorn replied, pulling open the driver seat doors. I leaned down, resting my hand on the car door, and watched how Callie pulled the seat belt over her.

"Look out for each other, okay?" I offered both of them a small smile, not expecting to receive one but Jude smiled back, before his attention was averted by something on the other side of the street. Callie nodded her head back, but remained silent, watching me with a sorrow filled eyes.

I closed the door, when Mrs. Hawthorn started the car. Callie looked at me to through the window as long as she could. The car pulled out, gained speed and soon it was out of my sight.

* * *

"Why did you never call me?" I questioned returning from the trip down the memory lane

Callie lowered her arms by her side and briefly averted her look sideways "I wanted to, but I never knew what to say to you," she answered, when she turned back to me "The thought that you would simply drop everything and come to our rescue seemed unlikely to be honest. Especially, because you were doing your job and...just because I thought you were nice - didn't mean you wanted anything to do with us."

After taking into consideration, what Callie told me, and everything else I know about her and her brother, I stood up, so I could look straight to her eyes "I was doing my job, but that didn't mean that I didn't really care or was faking my kindness," I stated confidently "Hearing about how hard these past few years have been, I can't help but to feel guilty. Our lives were hectic at that point, but it was nothing compared to what you two went through. Lena and I could have worked it out...somehow. We always do. It would have been hard for a while, but we should have-"

Callie interrupted me "Please don't blame yourself for how our life turned out. You two jumping out of your skins and pulling yourself in half's just to help us, wouldn't be good for either one!"

"Callie..." I wanted to argue back, but couldn't say much else, mainly because she did have a point. Sometimes, as hard as it is, it's best to let other people, who are more capable, take care of someone. But just because I agreed with her right now, doesn't change the fact that I still felt guilty for not doing more.

"You did everything you could," Callie argued back as she took the pendant between her fingers "You stayed with us, you comforted us, you read to us, you made us breakfast, you made sure we have items to remember our mom from, you held me while I cried, but most importantly, you showed us kindness and because of you, we both still believe there are good people out there we just haven't met them..." Callie paused, briefly averting her eyes down to her feet "...or seen them in a very long time."

I was touched to the core of my heart by her words. Hearing her say it, meant a lot. It meant I did something right and it served as a reminder to Wesleys Rule's of life - Always do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.

"I'm here...if you ever need someone. Lena and I both are. We're one call away," I said silently hoping it won't take an emergency situation for her to contact me

"Good to know," Callie said after a moment "Will you come by next week?" Callie wondered as looked down to the card I had given here

"How about I make this cocoa-break a regular thing?" I suggested trying to catch her gaze in my eyes. Callie's lips curved in a wishful smile as she looked up to me.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: A sincere thank you for those who showed me support. It meant a lot. And thank you to everyone, who is reading this story. I hope you stick with me, till the end.**

Callie POV

It has been a month since Lena started to tutor Jude. At the start of this week he had his first math test since the tutoring started. Today, he got his test back. To my and also his own surprise, Jude was only couple of points away from getting a B-. If he hadn't made those two silly inattention mistakes, he would have earned his first B in math ever.

It was fair to say that Jude was ecstatic. I can't remember, when was the last time I saw him so proud of himself. Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought he's math would improve so significantly after such a short time. It's all because of her. Lena did it. If Jude continues to work hard, there was no doubt in my mind, he will get in the school he wanted to so badly.

But little did I know, Jude was hiding another huge accomplishment from me.

It was a late Friday evening. Dad was in the living room, drinking his beer and watching a game, with his feet up to the coffee table. Relaxing after his long day at work. Jude and I were in the bathroom. We were doing laundry so we wouldn't have to do it on the weekend. Jude was sitting on top of the counter next to the washer. Assisting me, by keeping me company, while I took the clothes out one by one, shook them and put them in the basket, which was in Jude's lap.

"Ah, crap!" I exclaimed after I pulled out my black bra from the machine. I had bought it last spring, after I realized that my boobs had grew a bit and the old bra that I used to wear, was starting to get a little bit too tight for me.

"What?" Jude asked curious as he leaned closer to me to see what I was so upset about

"The stupid underwire of my bra has come out," I flicked on the end of it to show it to Jude

"There's a metal strip in bra's?" Jude questioned not knowing anything about bra's and how they work

"Yeah, and sometimes they are pain in the…boob!" I replied as I pushed the metal back in the bra. Jude chuckled at me, but didn't make any comments about the female clothing. Once I had succeeded in that, I put the bra aside so I would remember to sew it up, so it won't come out anymore. It was still a good bra, despite the fact that it could potentiality try and kill me, silently, the next time I decide to ware it.

As I grabbed the next cloth from the washer, I returned my attention to Jude "You were saying something about an essay."

"Oh, yeah…right," Jude liven up as we returned to our previous subject about him "Remember when I told you that there was a small essay contest at school?"

"Mhmm," I hummed back. If I recalled correctly, it had been at the start of this week. Jude had spent the whole weekend writing his essay. There were multiple scrambled up papers, drafts, in the trash bin. At one point of his creative process, I had seen him laying on the floor in the middle of his room. Just when I had thought about going in and asking what he was doing, he had jumped up to his, ran to his desk and scribbled something in his notepad. The next moment, he had sat down at his desk and started to really get into the writing. His pen had moved so fast and he was so concentrated on his task, I decided to let him be. Jude told me the essay theme was family, but I never got to read, what he wrote. I was pretty sure he had written it about mom.

"I won!" Jude announced

I did a double take on Jude, before his words truly registered with me "You won?" I asked not believing what I heard, my eyes grew big

"I won!" He repeated nodding his head. His smile reached from ear to ear "In my age group of course, but I won!" Jude added, trying to downplay his achievement, but it didn't work for me.

"Oh my gosh! You won! You won!" I tossed the clothe I was holding down and hugged my brother, squeezing him so tight, after couple of seconds he begged me to let him breath "Jude, that's so amazing! I'm so proud of you!" I kissed his cheeks multiple times making Jude squirm a little bit

Jude waited a moment, till I calm down a little bit, before he spoke up again "And you know the school event next Friday? The talent show?"

I raised my eyebrows up, having a feeling, where my brother was going with it. Jude mentioned the event couple of weeks ago. A lot of students were going to participate, showcasing their talent, like dancing, singing, playing musical instruments. There was going to be an art show as well. The attendance is _'obligatory forced'_ , so there would be an audience for the students, who participate in the event. Family members are of course welcomed, like any other similar school event.

"I'm going to preform. Read my essay out to everyone." Jude informed me, taking me by surprise again. Jude was on fire at school.

"Okay," I clapped my hands, but then rubbed them together "This calls for celebration! I'm going to the mall to get us a cake!" I told him as I was waking out of the bathroom, heading to my room to get my wallet.

"Can we get one with strawberries on top?" I heard Jude call from the bathroom as I entered my room

"Anything you want!" I shouted as I searched for my wallet in my school bag. Once I had found it, I walked over to my closet and grabbed a jacket, knowing that it was no longer as warm as it was during the day.

"Can I come with?" Jude was waiting for me in the hallway, looking at me with his big, brown pleading eyes, rocking gently back and forth on his feet

"Get your jacket and lets go!" I ruffled his hair. Jude ran to his room to get dressed. Meanwhile I walked over to the living room.

I stopped in the doorway and looked at dad, who hadn't even glanced to me, when I had appeared "Did you hear?"

"Huh...what?" Dad responded indifferently, keeping his eyes on the TV.

"Jude won the essay contest at school. And he's going to perform at the school talent show the next Friday!" I informed dad, excited and eager to see him react to the good news. This event was something we could attend together, as a family.

Dad turned to look at me, with the same void facial expression "Nice," he answered blankly, showing no sign that he was proud of Jude. He acted like nothing had happened. I blamed his nonchalance on the booze. The next moment, he raised the beer can up to his lips and drank it dry. He burped afterwards and set the empty can next to the other 5 empty cans on the ground by the couch. Dad then reached for the last beer can from the six-pack he had bought.

He popped the can open.

I felt a strong urge to grab the can out of his hands and pour it's content down the drain. These drinks, this booze - it was taking away our father from us. It was painful to witness, how we were slowly, piece by piece, loosing him. There was nothing I could do. I've tried talking to him. I've told him how his drinking is affecting our life. I've expressed my opinion about his drinking habits. About the amounts he's consuming. He doesn't listen, he doesn't care what I think, he doesn't see how his drinking is affecting Jude and I. Dad sees no problem with what he's doing.

"We're going to the mall to buy cake. To celebrate Jude's accomplishments. You want to come with?" I offered, hoping that dad agrees and comes with us

"No!" Dad replied dryly "I'm watching the game. Can't you see?" He raised his voice slightly and gestured to the TV as he glared at me

Putting my hands in my jackets pockets, I contorted my mouth to one side and averted my eyes down as I was one again let down by him. I knew what his answer was going to be, even before I asked him. I knew it, yet I still asked and got disappointment and hut in the end. Honestly, I don't understand why I'm still trying, why I'm torturing myself like this.

All I wanted, was for him to acknowledge us. To not ignore us. It's not that hard to pat Jude's back and say "Hey, good job, bud!" Right now, all dad did, was make us feel unwanted and unloved. We were not worth his time. It wasn't much different from how I felt most of the time in foster care. In time like these, I couldn't help but to stop thought like - _we're the problem, we're unlovable_ \- coming to my mind.

"I'm ready," I heard Jude coming out from his room

I took one last look at our dad, before I took a step back and left with Jude, without saying another word to dad.

* * *

"When did we get a cake?" dad asked the second I walked in the kitchen the next morning. His face looked slightly swelled, but his eyes were a bit red. I noticed an empty glass by the sink, so I'm guessing, he took something for the headache he was having because of yesterdays drinking. It appears, that he had fell asleep with his clothes on, because this outfit looked wrinkled. I bet his breath smelled like alcohol as well, but I kept my distance from him, not wanting to find out.

There was no - _good morning_ \- or - _how did you sleep_ _._ He just went straight to the business "We didn't have a cake at dinner yesterday."

"Jude and I bought it," I kept an indifferent tone intentionally, wanting to show him some attitude for how he was treating us yesterday. Once I was by the counter, I started to make myself a cup of coffee to help me get through this morning.

"Why?" Donald stepped aside as I reached, when I walked up to the fridge to get ingredients for my breakfast, which was going to be a simple cheese sandwich I was going to eat on the way to work.

"We were celebrating," I replied, keeping my eyes on my task - smearing the butter on the bread "Jude won the essay contest."

"He did?" wow, he actually sounded genuine "That's so great! Really amazing!"

"Don't need to tell me," I muttered back as I started to cut the cheese "I celebrate with him, remember...oh, my bad...you don't remember."

"What's with that attitude?" Dad questioned coming closer to me after my snarky comment that I had added at the end

"What attitude?" I briefly glanced to him, pretending to now know what he was talking about.

"That!" He gestured to me "What did I ever do to you? Why are you always so…angry with me. Like I have done something to hurt you."

I ran my hand over my face in frustration and let out a long breath. Honestly, I wasn't in the mood for this talk right now. It's too exhausting. There is so much I wanted to tell him, but if I do start, I knew I would end up yelling at him. That's not what I wanted.

"Maybe because you don't give a damn about me or Jude," I answered as calmly as I could, with as little attitude as I could. Still, I think I came out sounding pissed off.

"Don't say that, Cal!" He argued back, taking another step closer to me, which made me want to get my breakfast ready faster so I could leave "I love both of you!"

"Well, sorry, but sometimes it's hard to see it!" I admitted truthfully as I briefly turned to him

Dad was silent for a long time, enough for me to finish my sandwich "What do I need to do to prove it you?" His voice had become more softer

I looked down to the floor between us as I took a second to gather my thoughts and put the anger away for a while.

"Tell me!" Donald pressed on

As I thought about what to answer him, I poured coffee in my thermos and washed the knife "Jude's going to perform at a talent show next Friday at school," I said as I put the lid on the thermos and picked up my sandwich "He's going to be reading his essay. I think you should attend the event with me."

"What time?"

"The start is at 4PM," I answered as I looked to him

"I'll be there!" He promised without missing a beat

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I'm going to be there!" he stated firmly

"Great," I said not fully believing he will keep it. It will be a pain in the ass to explain it to Jude, if he won't. After all, I'm going to have to be the one to explain it to Jude, if dad will be a no show. It would probably be smart to not get my hopes up and to tell Jude the same thing.

* * *

"What was the essay about?" Lena asked curiously as she waited for Jude to show up at his tutoring session. Jude wasn't late, it was Lena, who had come here too early. So I made her coffee and now we were making small talk as we sat on one of the couches in the main hall.

The more I had gotten the chance to talk to her, the more I liked her and the more I wanted to get to know her. No matter what we talked about, she always showed great interest and listened, unlike dad. Conversations with here were always pleasant and truthfully, I didn't want them to end. It was very easy to talk to her, about anything. When I was around her, it felt like I could trust her my deepest secrets. I also started to feel slightly envious of Stef and Lena's kids. They are so lucky to have parents like this. I doubt they even realize it.

Her sense of humor is very interesting as well. Last Sunday, Jude's pencil had broken, so I quickly sharpened it for him. When I had given the pencil back to Jude, I said this god-awful joke to both of them.

"Why should you not write with a dull pencil? Because it's pointless!"

Any normal person, would have given me a look and then pretend they didn't hear the bad joke. Actually, that's exactly what Jude did, but Lena had laughed at that joke more sincere than I think anyone had ever laughed about a joke I've told. As it turned out, bad jokes are Stef's expertise and Lena hears them daily. She said that after couple of months of dating Stef, those jokes grew on her and she learned to appreciate them. They make her laugh. Apparently, people like that exists.

"I'm sure Jude will love to tell you everything about it," I replied

"I'll make sure to ask him about it. You got me really intrigued," Lena took a small pause and sipped her drink "How did Jude do on his math test he had this week?"

"He got an C+, but..." I paused for dramatic moment "Jude was just few points away from getting a B-! You should have seen his face. He was so proud of himself. I'm sure he will show you the test today, so you can go over the mistakes."

"His hard work paid off! If he keeps it up, he will soon be earning A's! Once he believes he can achieve that-" she moved her eyebrows up, suggesting that Jude could be unstoppable then. I couldn't agree with her more.

"You helped!" I smiled at the woman. It was strange, seeing that she didn't ask for any kind of recognition for her work. She was the responsible for Jude's grades improving. Without her, Jude would have still struggled to get a D. Yet there was no comment about _\- I'm such a good teacher, praise me for my hard work, look at the part I played in Jude's newest achievement._

"Heey!" we heard Jude call out from the hallway. My attention was on the white flower pot that Jude was carrying in front of him. It was a purple orchid. Still quite small.

"Hey, Jude!" Lena beamed seeing the my brother, when he was up to us "What's that you got there?" she eyed the object in his hands just as curiously as I was. I had no idea, what Jude was planning, so Lena's guess as to what it was, was as good as mine.

"It's for you!" Jude handed the flower pot over to Lena

"Me?" Lena was clearly stunned. Briefly, she glanced to me, asking me with her eyes - did you know he was getting me something? When she saw me shrug my shoulder and my clueless look, she quickly put her cup of coffee down to free her hands and took the flower pot from Jude.

"I got a C+ in the last test and that's...all because you helped me. I wanted to get you something," Jude explained, his cheeks were starting to turn a little bit pink, he was nervous "Turn it around," Jude nudged looking at how Lena took in the gift.

As Lena turned the flower pot around, it reveled a text on the other side of the pot. It looked like Jude had written on the white pot with a black marker. The text read - _Thank you for helping me grow._ Jude had drawn a yellow flower next to it. It was absolutely stunning gift.

I couldn't believe how creative Jude had gotten and how much effort and thought he had put into this gift. We had spent days trying to figure out what to get our dad for his birthday two months ago. In the end, the best we came up with had been a gift card so he could buy whatever he wanted to buy for himself. This gift, Jude had gotten Lena, just for helping him math, was much more personal than our gift to dad. That to me, spoke volumes.

"Jude..." Lena seemed to be loss of words for a while "This is beautiful. I love it!" The sincere and genuine tone, along with the teary eyes made it absolutely clear to me - she meant it and she was touched to the depth of her heart by his gift.

Jude grinned back at her, clearly pleased that Lena liked his gift. Lena set the flower pot down and gave my brother a hug, who definitely liked the affection Lena gave him. That's not surprising actually, because he hasn't gotten any affection form his father in months.

But underneath my smile, I started to have doubts and fears as well. What if Jude will get too attached to Lena? Possibly seeing her as mother figure. What will happen, once Lena stops tutoring him and giving him the attention he so desperately needs and craves for? Should I be telling him, not to get attached, like I have told him every time we got placed in a new foster home?

For the time being, I didn't want to ruin the moment between them. So I got back to work, allowing Jude and Lena to get to the tutoring part.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry about the fake post, there were multiple errors when I tried to post. Site glitches.  
**

Callie POV

"This seat is taken," I told an elder woman, probably some kids grandma, as I touched the chair beside me

The elder woman didn't seem offended, upset or anything. She seemed quite understanding, unlike the last guy I said the same thing, and replied "Sorry, dear!" before walking off, eventually finding herself a seat two rows in front of me.

The talent show is about to start, but there was no sign of dad. I turned in my seat once again and scanned the rest of the audience, hoping to see him sitting by himself someplace. The large entrance doors opened again, so I averted my look to them. My shoulders slumped down, when I saw a stranger sneaking in. Turning back in my seat, I checked my phone again. No messages. No missed calls. No emails.

I dialed dads's number for the fifth time, but once again, it rang so long, till the phone itself disconnected the call for me. Afterwards I started to write dad another message, asking him where is he and telling him he's going to miss Jude's performance, while in the background, the school Vice-Principal walked on the stage as the lights in the audience were turned down.

Now I started to feel like a fool, because I had actually thought he would show for the reason of how certain dad sounded in the morning, when I reminded him of the event. I felt a little bit like an asshole for telling so many people the seat beside me was taken, while in fact it wasn't.

The lady next to me, tapped my hand "Excuse me, do you mind turning it off? " sounded like she was irritated by me even thought my phone's screen was on for like 5 seconds max and the VP was only giving the boring opening speech.

I mumbled back "Sorry," as I locked my phone, but for now, still held on to it in my hand, in case I got a call back or message from dad.

Every other minute for the first 10 minutes, the doors constantly opened and closed as people, parents and friends, were sneaking in the auditorium, trying not to disturb anyone. In came a couple, a man with a toddler in his hands, a young woman in heels, who made more sound than the toddler had, a kid and another elder person, who walked with a walking stick.

Jude was called on the stage about 45 minutes after the whole event started. I got tears in my eyes after the first few sentences off his essay.

 _"One word I would use to describe my family is - mending._

 _It's hard to describe my family in one word, because of what, my family has been through._

 _Before my mom died, leaving our family suddenly and unexpectedly, we were_ _n_ _ormal._ _You could say were were happy._ _We were a typical American family. Living in a typical suburban neighborhood. Mom always made pancakes on Sunday mornings. I would go to park with my dad_ _to play on the playground_ _. My sister and I were bickering, annoying each other, like any sibling does, but we also spent a lot of time playing with each other. Mom read us books, while we sat around the living room coffee table, drawing. I had a superhero themed birthday party, with a pinata filled with delicious candies and a huge cake, that we ended up eating for the rest of the week, because it simply was too big._ _Back then, there wasn_ _'t anything, that made my family stand out from others._

 _After my moms death, we were broken. Shattered from the grief and our separation from each other._ _We were e_ _strange for a long time, because my sister and I were put in foster care, but dad was arrested. The only family I had for a long time was my big sister. She was just a child herself, when she started to take care of me. We were unlucky. Bouncing from foster home after foster home. Never able to find a place to settle down, to feel safe._ _It always felt like the rug underneath our feet could be pulled out._

 _Once the hard patch in our life passed, my family started to mend. Slowly. Piece by piece_ _._ _We are struggling, but determent to become the family we used to be..._ "

I started to understand, why Jude was chosen as a winner as I was sure, he was the only one, who hadn't used the word happy to describe his family. Jude's hard life experience, gave him a quite the unique perspective of everything. I believe he values what he has in his life more than any other kid, and he never takes anyone for granted. Jude doesn't complain much about anything.

* * *

I was waiting in the main hall for Jude, while he ran to the bathroom. There were paintings on the walls all around the hall. They were drawn by the kids and put out for display. The drawings were part of the talent showcasing. The hall itself It was filled with people. Some were simply chatting, but few others were admiring the kids drawings. The chatter in here was so loud, I barely heard my own thoughts. Teachers were praising kids skills and talents left and right, making the parents proud of their offspring's. All around me were smiling, happy and proud faces.

"Boo!" Jude jumped in front of me "Did I scared you?" he grinned looking up at me.

Despite what I thought, Jude hadn't grew sad, when he learned that dad hadn't shown. At least he didn't displayed it in a way I could see. His tone hadn't changes, his shoulders didn't slouch down, his eyes were still bright. There was no sign of sadness, when I looked at him. Maybe he started to get used to being let down by our father, just like I have. That's the part that worried me the most - he was becoming more like me. Jude has always been the more happy, positive, cheerful kid of the two of us. The last thing that I wanted, was for him to lose that.

"Sure did!" My heart had done a little jump at the sudden sound of his voice and him appearing in front of me out of nowhere "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah," Jude agreed as we both turned towards the exit

All of a sudden, the main entrance doors to the hall were pushed open from the outside. They banged loudly at the wall, but the next second a shout grabbed everyone's attention forcing them to look at, whoever just barged in and shouted out "DidImissit?"

My face went pale as I recognized that person as being our dad. His speech had been slightly slurred, but his voice was much louder than he usually spoke, thus, making it absolutely clear to me - he was drunk. Again. I didn't even have to feel his breath on me or see him up close to tell it.

At the sight of his father Jude, who had stood in front of me a moment ago, had moved and now was hidden behind my back.

Dad pressed his hand to the door frame to balance himself. He tripped over the doorstep and fell flat down on his face with a loud bang.

When the gym teacher went to help him up from the floor, dad expressed his dislike by yelling at him "Geerofme!" he pushed the teachers hand away roughly

Everyone in the hall, watched how he was struggling to get up from the floor. Including Jude and I. We both stood frozen in our spots and we watched our father make a fool of himself in front of all the school, kids and other parents. He was a disgrace. I just couldn't bring myself to help him. Part of me wanted to look away, but other part, just couldn't take my eyes off him.

The gym teacher tried to help dad again, once he was up to his knees, but Donald put up a resistance and kept insisting he's as sober as he could ever be. Obviously no one believed him, but himself. People all around us started to whisper. I saw few people had taken their phones out and were now filming the drunk.

I had never been more ashamed of being related to him, than I am now. It was humiliating. All I wanted to do was disappear from here, so no one could draw the connection between us. We could just slip out from this hall through the other exit, unnoticed. This certainly was the second worst thing he had ever done to us, after killing our mom. The worst part - Jude and I will forever remember, but dad will have recollection of this. I'm afraid how other kids and teahers will be looking at us on the next Monday.

"My boy, you here?" Donald shouted, when he was finally up to his feet "Where is he?" He turned to the gym teacher and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him closer to him, then put his arm around his shoulder and patted the teachers chest "Welll...have ya?"

"Who?"

"Who-who? My boy - Jude!" Donald left the gym teacher and started to sing out, but the worst part was that he was trying to get the other adults to sing along with him "Heey, Juuuude...don't be afraid-nah, nah-nah, nah, nah-nah, nah..."

"Oh, god! Why is he being like that?" Jude whispered in horror and shame, I felt him pressing his head to my back as he tried to hide behind me

Behind me I heard people whispering about calling the police, that's when I finally snapped out and realized that I had to show myself to dad and get him out of here before he does something truly terrible. He had humiliated us and himself enough as it was.

With my head down, I squeezed through the crowd towards dad, dreading to look up and see the way everyone is going watch me and hearing the whispers behind my back.

Stef POV

The kids had run off to their rooms after dinner, leaving Lena and I to clean everything. Today, I was the one scrubbing the dishes clean, while Lena was drying and putting them away. I had just gotten my hands on a dirty pot, when I heard my phone ringing. It stood on the island table, too far for me to see who it was and possibly ignoring the call if it was my mother calling to tell me about yet another hippy meeting she had went with Will to smoke shrooms.

"Can you see who it is?" I asked, turning to look at Lena, who was by my left side running the dish towel over the cutting board I had just washed

"Sure," Lena placed the cutting board in the cabinet and tossed the towel over her shoulder, before she walked off to the table

"If it's my mother-"

"It's not your mother!" I heard an emergency in her voice "It's Callie!" Lena held the phone up, showing me the screen, when I had glanced over my shoulder to see, why Lena had sounded so worried

"Callie?" I was surprised that she was calling me, I stopped doing dishes. Till today, we had only exchanged a couple of text messages. The conversations we had through the phone were a lot more meaningless than the ones, when we were face to face. Callie's a lot more honest and open with me, when we're alone in the small yard at the drop-in center. Whenever I'm with her, I feel like the girl is desperate to get the stuff she talks about off her shoulders. Like she has been holding it in for too long and simply wants to vent to someone, who listens to her.

"Can you-" Lena understood me from half a sentence. She came up to me, ran her finger over the screen to pick up the call and put the phone up to my ear.

"Hello!" I greeted the person on the other end

There was a long pause before I heard a timid, quiet kids voice on the other end, it was defiantly not Callie's voice "Is...is this Officer Adams Foster?"

"Yes, that's me," I confirmed "Jude, is that you?" I questioned, making Lena next to me liven up and look at me worriedly. He must be on the street somewhere, because I heard cars driving by. I heard some indistinct chatter and noises in the background.

I dropped the pot in the sink along with the scrub and turned off the water. Blindly, I reached for a towel and started to dry my hands.

From the other end of the call, came a faint voice" Yes."

"What's the matter Jude? You sound scared. Is everything okay?" I asked taking the phone out of Lena's hand, now holding it on my own

Jude's breathing was heard from the other side for a moment "It's our dad. We can't get him home."

"What do you mean - you can't get him home?" I wondered, locking eyes with my wife, who now looked scared as well, not just full of concern for the two kids

"He's really drunk. Callie can't...she just can't get him home."

"Can you tell me where you are?" I asked walking to the island table and grabbing my keys and wallet from it. Lena now stood at the end of the island table, whispering to me questions about what had happened.

"I'm not sure," wind blew in the speaker, he must be looking around for a street sign, I heard a car honking and tires screeching "The streetsign says Willow street 156," Jude said after a moment

"Okay, I'm going to the car as we speak! Keep the phone close by, yes?" Once I got an affirmative from Jude, I ended the call. Before running off, I informed Lena of what had happened, though, it did no good in calming her down. She wanted to drive with me, but I talked her out of it, saying that one of us had to stay with the kids and I will call her as soon as the situation is settled.

* * *

The Sun was starting to set as I neared the location Jude had given me. Street lights were still off. Like on Friday night, the streets were pretty full with life. People were going to clubs, parties, dinner dates, movies. Most of the parking spots were full.

I lowered the speed as I drove along the street. After few blocks, I thought I saw, who I was looking for. In the distance, about 200 meters (218 yards) down the street, I saw three figures walking. One of them was definetly a kid , but just a step or two in front of them, walked two other people. By the size of the figures I could tell - one of them was a woman, but the other was a man. The woman was significantly smaller than the person next to her. Despite their height and weight difference, the woman was supporting the man. Her arm was wrapped around the mans waist, but her right arm was holding the man's hand that was put over the woman's shoulder.

Once I got a little closer, it became clear to me, I was looking at Jude, Callie and Donald.

The three of them walked slow. Too slow. Donald and Callie's walk wasn't steady. They took two steps, then briefly stopped or staggered to side or backward. Callie pumped into the wall after a stop. The girl was struggling to keep both of them on their feet, while Donald was tripping over the smallest bumps, cracks on the sidewalk. Every now and then I heard Donald yell out something.

I was some 100 meters (109 yards) behind them, when Donald tripped again. This time, Callie lost her footing as well as he pulled her down with him. Jude ran up to them instantly.

Thankfully, the fall didn't look too painful. Donald remained laying on the ground, still moving, but Jude helped Callie get up to her feet. She dusted off her clothes, ran the end of her sleeves over her face, probably wiping off the sweat...or tears.

I stopped the car some couple of steps behind them in the closest empty parking spot avalable. When I got out of the car, I heard Donald singing at the top of his lungs waving his hands around and hiccuping in between "...25 bottles of beer on the wall...Take one down and pass it around, 24 bottles of beer on the wall!" The words slurred together as he could no longer form the words clearly.

"You are a fucking asshole!" Callie hissed at her father, clearly beyond frustrated with him. They were so distracted by each other that neither noticed us driving up and stopping not far from them.

"Stop singing!" Callie shouted , loosing her patience with him, but he didn't seem bothered it by. Not even a little bit. It's like he completely ignored her. Jude pulled Callie by her hand to get her a bit further from their dad, probably to get her to calm down and take a breath.

"24 bottles..." Donald burped while getting up to his knees "24 bottles of BE-E-E-E-R..."

People, who were walking on the other side of the street, looked at them and started to whisper. Civilians were troubled by the sight, but not enough to actually go and help the kids.

"Hey!" I announced myself as I approached the the kids

Callie turned to look at me, frightened. Her body visibly tensed up at the sound of my voice. I guess she hadn't noticed us driving up and we had scared her. The second she realized that she realized it was I, her stiff body relaxed.

Jude ran to me and hugged me "You came!" he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his head to my stomach

"Of course I did, Jude," I smiled at him, when he pulled away and looked up to me

Callie stood in her place, and averted her eyes down to the payment, when our eyes met. I got the feeling she was happy to see me, but maybe too ashamed as to with what they needed my help. This, obviously, was nothing pleasant and she knew it very well. Callie's a smart kid, I had a pretty good feeling, that she knew that we're going to have a talk about their living sitation after we get them home. She was dreading it, but I can't not have it i with her. This is not something I can simply ignor and look the other way.

Donald was now up to his feet, swaying in his spot and groaning out loud. He started to wobble his way towards Callie and grabbed her arm and shoulder, trying to steady himself. Callie didn't seem bothered by Donald being so touchy with her and for pulling on her arm so many times. She continued standing tall and firm, giving him the support he needed. Maybe she was accustomed to this. I got a bad the feeling that this wasn't the first time she was trying to bring the man back home.

"Lets get your dad in the car," I told Callie, nodding towards Donald

"Okay," Callie agreed, but the next second her father emptied his stomach content right on the poor girl


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hopfully this chapter reaches you with the first try.**

Stef POV

"Almost," I said as I helped Callie take her sweatshirt off, that her father had puked all over.

The smell was foul. I had hardiness against these kind of things so I could take it and it didn't make my stomach turn. Callie and Jude, on the other hand, were both more queasy. Jude had turned his back on Callie as he had gagged at the smell and look of it. Not sure, what got to him the most. It could also be the sound that came from their father, who was bent down in the nearby ally. Donald's one hand rested on the wall, other on his stomach as he continued to empty his stomach of the poison he had drank.

Callie was holding on bravely. Her eyes were closed and her head was turned to side, so that here face would be as far away from the vomit as possible. She was holding her breath as long as she could so she wouldn't have to sniff the smell. I could tell she was beyond disgusted.

"Jude, can you run to my car and get the wet wipes from the glove department and a plastic bag from the compartment in the passenger side doors, please?" I asked before I prepared to pull the sweater over Callie's head

Without saying anything and looking to me, he turned and ran to my car.

"Get it off. Get it off, please!" Callie pleaded squeezing her eyes tightly shut

"I will," I assured her before I pulled it over "Done!" Callie was left standing in a black tank top. Her skin on arms covered in goosebumps the second the sweater was off.

Jude came up to me with both of the objects I asked him to get "Hold the bag out, please, so we can discard of this," I told him as I folded the sweater up a little bit. Jude held the bag open for me. He turned his head sideways as I tossed the sweater it to avoid the look and smell.

Sensing that Jude wanted to get as far and fast away from the dirty sweater, I quickly took the bag from Jude and for now, put it on the ground by my feet. Jude handed me the wet wipes. I grabbed one wipe out and cleaned the vomit that was left on Callie's neck and one splash that had landed on her cheek. Jude handed a wipe to Callie, who started to rub her palms clean making grimaces in the process. We ended up going through all of the wet wipes. There weren't much left there in the beginning, but still, Callie desperately needed all of the wipes to make herself feel clean.

I carried the plastic bag to the car and tossed it on the floor by the passenger seat. The shirt wasn't unusable. After washing it couple of times she can wear it again. Afterwards I made my way towards the trunk. Once open, I reached for my bag that contained emergency clothes for work. Not uniform, but some jeans, SDPD issued sweater and shirt, shoes and socks. You can never know when you need it.

"Here, put this on," I handed Callie my dark blue sweater with the SDPD phrase written in big white letters on back. Callie took the sweater gladly and pulled it over her head. It was a little bit too big for her. The sleeves almost reached over her palm and it looked a little bit loose around her body, but overall, with the high pony tail she had on, the color and shirt suited her and looked good.

"I'll check on your dad and see if we can get him going. You two can get in the back of the car to keep warm," I told both of the kids and pointed to my car

After about 5 more minutes we were on our way to their home. As I drove, I kept a watch on for Donald. The last thing that I wanted is to clean my car in the morning. At the slightest look of him starting to get sick I was going to pull over. When I wasn't watching the road or keeping eye on Donald, who sat next to me groaning about how horrible he felt, I sneaked a look in the rear view mirror to the two kids. After Callie told me the address, they were being very quiet. They didn't even talk between themselves. All I saw in the mirror, was Jude, who had pressed his head to the window and was staring outside. When I got the chance, I quickly turned my head to see how's Callie doing. She had leaned her head back at the headrest and with a distant look in her eye's she was staring at ceiling of the car.

We reached their home in about 10 minutes. It was a small, humble one story house. The design of the house was similar to other homes on this street. I was surprised that a man, who had been in jail for 4 years had managed to afford this kind of a place again. The chances are that Donald, similar to other families, will have to pay a mortgage for the next 30 years or s to afford to live here. But at least they had their own place. For the kids sake, it was obviously worth it. If the kids get taken away, not so much. And it was their home. Something familiar.

Jude went to unlock the doors, while I was helping Donald out of the car. With a little bit of help from Callie, we got him to his bed in no time. I had assumed dropping him on his bed would be enough, but Callie stayed back for a little while to take off his shoes and cover him with a blanket. Deep down, she still loved her father. Though, if asked, I doubt if she would ever admit it. Their relationship was complicated to say the least. I could only assume Callie was having hard time understanding her own feelings. How can she still love someone, who has hurt her family so much?

I've been in a similar spot as well. For years, my relationship with my dad had been strained. But despite all of the arguments we had, despite all of the times I've walked out of the house slamming the doors behind me, despite the fact that he didn't even come to my wedding - I still loved him. It still hurt to bury him. He was my dad after all.

So in a weird way, Callie and I had similiarities. We both resented our fathers.

Walking out in the hall, I looked around for Jude. I didn't see him in his room, but I did hear the TV being turned on.

"You okay, Jude?" I asked, when I leaned against the door frame, watching the boy from afar even though I knew these kids were far from being remotely okay.

Jude shrugged his shoulders as he started to switch the channels looking for something to set his mind off what had happened.

"You want to talk about it?" I offered walking closer to him

Jude shook his head. I scolded myself for talking Lena out of coming with me. Lena had way better relationship with the boy than I do. If my instinct were right, Jude trusted Lena the same way Callie trusted me. He has opened up to her and shared stories about their time in foster care with her. And Lena seems to have a special place in her heart for the young boy as well. The way she speaks about him once she returns from the tutoring session. Her eyes spark the same way they do, when she speaks about our three kids. The young boy, without a doubt, was helping Lena as well, in ways no one could have ever imagined. It feels like, Jude's the one helping Lena heal after Frankie's death.

It took me a minute to remember that Lena doesn't have to be here to talk to him. I bet hearing her voice alone would help cheer the boy up. Lena would know exactly what to tell him.

I crossed the hallway and entered the dark kitchen. Standing by the kitchen window that out looked the street, I called Lena. Only after one ring, Lena picked up, which made me wonder if she had been sitting in the living room, staring at the phone in her hand, waiting for my call.

"I need your help," I said the first thing she picked up. After filling Lena in about everything that had happened, I walked back to the living room, where Jude was now sitting with his feet up on the couch and his knees up to his chest.

"I have someone on the phone for you," I told Jude as I approached him, holding my phone in my hands

Jude looked to me puzzled after my statement "Lena wants to talk to you," I raised my phone up and wiggled it in the air, before extending my hand out, offering the phone to him. The corners of his mouth moved upwards just a little bit, forming a small smile, as he reached out to me.

"Here you go," I placed my phone in his hand. He grabbed the TV remote and turned the volume down completely before putting my phone to his ear.

"Hello," Jude said a bit timid, but I could see his mood was getting better by each second

Once I had made sure, that Jude would be okay for a while, I turned around and went to look for Callie. As I walked through the house, I was a slightly shocked that I hadn't seen a single family photo. There weren't a lot of decorative items as well. All together it kind of made it a bit unpersonal. Like they could pack their things in 10 minutes and just leave if they had to. Bad habit from the the systems Donald and the kids had been in for years. It wasn't like that the last time I was here. I remember seeing family photos. Kids drawings on fridge, tables, in frames on walls. Small decors all around the house. Toys could be seen even in kitchen.

The doors to Donald's room were closed, which made me think, Callie must be in her room. There was light coming from ajar doors to Callie's room. I knocked softly on the doors the same time as I pushed them open lightly.

Callie was sitting on the side of her bed and looked up to me as I appeared in the doorway.

Sensing that I was welcome, I made my way over to her and sat down on the side of the bed next to her, while letting out a sigh as well.

"What a day," I sighed as I gazed to the wardrobe that stood by the opposite wall. One of the wardrobe doors were open. At the top shelf I noticed the big, blue duffel bag, that Callie had packed the day the CPS came. It had looked so large next to her that day.

"Yep," Callie took a slow, deep breath and exhaled in the same manner

As I scanned the room, I noticed two cards attached to the nightstand. They were put to the side of the nightstand with a tape. One looked brand new. The other had slightly banged up corners and the paper was a bit yellowish and tatty. I could tell the card had been folded in half from the dent in the middle of it. It certainly has been tossed around in pockets, hands nad bags for few years. I recognized them as my business cards.

"I told you I kept it," Callie smiled at me, noticing me looking at the cards

I smiled to myself as I averted my eyes down to my hands in my lap "Jude's in the living room, talking to Lena," I said in the hopes of delaying the talk I needed to have with Callie

"Yeah, I know. Heard you talk to him," Callie answered

After taking a breath I finally cut to the chase "Callie," I turned my body to her, needing to see her face for this "What your dad did…the way he is acting…"

"Don't!" Callie retorted facing me "You promised!"

"You and Jude shouldn't be living like this. This!-" I pointed my finger to where Donald was resting "-is not a good home for Jude...and you to grow up!"

"It was a one time thing!" She tried to convince me, but I was no longer was falling for the lie. I knew better after seeing how Callie was around Donald on the street, in the car and in the house. This wasn't the first rodeo. I

"You said the same thing the time I met you at the station!" I called her out on her lies. Not being able to look me in the eye, she tilted her head down avoiding me.

"Be honest with me, Callie," I spoke in softer tone, but kept the firm tone as well, so that she understand that I'm expecting the truth from her and I can't be messed with "How many times have you went out in the middle of the night to get him back from a bar? How many times has he come home...drunk? How many times has he left you and Jude alone?"

Seconds passed, but Callie remained silent as she was having an inner turmoil. It scared her- admitting the truth and not knowing how it will affect her and Jude's life further down the line. I can only assume, she believed that this was good life, while in fact it wasn't. These kids deserved more, but they just didn't know it. Or didn't believe that the do.

I reached out to her and gripped her hand in mine, telling her that she can trust me and that I'm here for her, without pushing and probing her to tell me.

She turned her head away from me before she admitted in a hushed voice "I stopped counting."

I sucked in a breath and replied gently and carefully after a moment "I can't….continue to witness this…neglect. You both deserve so much better. The CPS can make sure-"

Callie pulled her hand out from mine and hissed at me "No!" she jumped up to her feet and looked down to me. The vein on her neck was pulsing, her forehead was frown up in anger, but her voice was raised "I don't want to move, again. I don't want to live with yet another foster family. I don't want to change schools, again. Don't you dare mess this up for us! I will never forgive you if you call the CPS on us!"

"I know a man, who works in CPS. I can get in contact with him and we will make sure you both are put in a good, safe home," putting my hand on my heart I promised her "I'll check the family out myself to make sure no one ever hurts you ever again!"

"You don't understand!" Callie hissed, put her hands on her head frustrated with me and turned her back to me

"Then help me understand," I begged her as I got up to my feet as well. WHen I put my hand on her shoulder, she pushed it off by and started to pace around the room.

After couple of seconds, Callie stopped right in front of me, just an inch away, I could feel her breath on me and her body heat "Do you know what will happen once I turn 18?" Callie asked, looking straight to my eyes. The pause wasn't meant for me to think about before I give her an answer

"I will no longer ward of state," Callie explained in the most calm manner she could as she took a step backwards "Which means, the foster family is going to throw me out, because they won't get money for me. I'll be living on street. But the worst part is that Jude will be out there alone," She pointed to where Jude was, but then pressed her finger to her own chest "I'm not going to be by his side to watch out for him. I can't protect him, if I'm not with him. If we stay here, at least we are together. I can take care of him. We are all that we got. If I lose him…" Callie chocked up and I saw tears appear in her eyes "The last time I left Jude alone for couple of hours, our foster father almost beat him to death for putting on a dress. How's that for safe?" Callie chuckled, but it was humorless laugh "At least dad is not abusive," she reasoned "So what - he's drunk every now and then? I can handle him. Dad has never raised his hand at us. Never! He put a roof over our head. We are not starving, because of him. No one is yelling at us for using too much hot water. We don't have to be afraid to fall asleep in our beds while living with dad, because I know, he will never hurt us intetionally!"

The decision I was facing was tearing me apart. It's excruciating. I know, deep down I know I should get these kids out of this home as it's not good for them. They are not being looked after by anyone. I assume Callie plays the adult role more than Donald does. Their father is irresponsible drunk, who can't even look after himself, let alone his kids. He's quite possibly still haunted by what he did and feels tremendous amount of guilt. That could be eating at him, making him hard to sleep at night. Donald is their father, but he's not acting like a parent should. That's what is bugging me the most. He's not capable of taking care of them. It's only matter of time till he's arrested again, hurts himself or worse - hurts the kids.

But after Callie's explanation, I understood very clearly what was at stake for these kids. Even the thought of them being separated again, was scaring Callie. Beyond anything I have seen. The worst part is that even if I do call the CPS and they do take them someplace else, there is no guarantee that their new foster parents won't neglect or abuse the kids. Background checks don't always show the real picutre, what happenes behind closed doors, when no ones watching. And Callie was right, once she's ages out of foster care - Jude's alone and once again separated from the only person, who makes her feel safe and who protects her. There is only so much a kid can take. If this moving around continues, he will lose the little sense of stability he had left. Not to mention trust in adults.

After a long time of thinking about my choices, I once again ended up backing down from my initial plan. Mainly because I don't think I would be able to sleep at night, knowing that I'm the one responsible for the kids being separated.

Jude POV

As I walked down the school hallway, I could feel everyone's eyes burning holes in the back of my head. It wasn't bad enough that other kids bully me for no good reason. Now I had to deal with this as well. I had hoped that because of the weekend between the school days, they would have forgotten. Guess I was wrong. It felt like the incident at scchool had happened just minutes ago. Even the teachers gave me looks as I passed them, though, their looks felt more like sympathy and concer, not the mean kind.

I held tighter to my backpacks strips and with head down, continued to walk towards my locker hoping that no one was going to come up to me. Even thought this day had just started, I couldn't wait for it to be over.

I opened my locker and started to switch out the books, when I heard someone say my name from behind me. It wasn't a kids voice, so it must be one of the teachers, who had witnessed the ordeal last Friday.

Slowly, holding my breath, I turned around to face the teacher. A lump formed in my throat and my heart beat faster in my chest, when I saw our schools psychologist standing in front of me. She had that stupid polite, kind smile on, when she tried to act all super friendly and gentle. _This is not good_ \- I thought to myself right before she spoke again.

"May I speak to you in my office, please?


	12. Chapter 12

Jude POV

I stopped in the middle of the small room while I waited for the school psychologist to close the doors, giving us more privacy and ensuring no one would barge in unannounced and interrupt the conversation we were about to have.

"Take a seat, Jude," Ms. Stein gestured to the chair

I took my bag off my shoulders and took a seat at the specified chair. She pulled a chair next to me and sat down, which felt odd, because usually they sit on the other side of the table to show, who is in charge and to show authority. This felt different. Her actions certainly took me off guard and I felt more nervous than before. I got the feeling this talk was going to be more serious than the other _chats_ I have had with school staff over the past few years.

When living in our first foster home, a teacher once got concerned after I had been wearing the same jeans and shirt for over three weeks. Callie had gotten into some mild trouble at school the previous week and our foster parents were called to school. At home, Callie had gotten a serious beating that night. She was spanked so hard, that she could barley sit down for days. So, I learned from my sisters mistake and lied to my teacher, saying that after a trip to visit our some distant relatives, our baggage had been lost at the airport. While the truth was, our foster parents simply didn't do our laundry or anything at home. By that time, about half a year in, I owned three shirts. One of my shirt had dried blood on from the time Callie had been pushed by our foster mother and she fell - face first - to the coffee table, thus resulting in the scar on her forehead by her hairline. The other shirt I had had multiples wholes in it, but the third I was wearing at that moment. Callie did wash them under the sick once a week to make sure that I'm not walking around completely stinky, but she couldn't get the dry blood out, nor knew how to sew the other one up by then. After telling Callie about how I was approached at school, we saved up -dollar by dollar - and went to a second hand store and we bought ourselves, few more shirts and new jeans to wear, so we wouldn't be put in a spot like that again.

While living in the third foster home, a teacher once noticed me trying to get leftovers from the school cafeteria. Our foster parents didn't give us nearly enough food. Callie and I were walking around most days hungry, some even starving. We both lost some weight at that foster home, though, neither of us had any fat to loose to begin with as we were quite thin kids. To get out of trouble that time, I had came up with a lie about how I'm going to shelters and want to help the homeless. That of course being a noble thing to do, gave me a quick and easy exit from situation. I was more careful after that confrontation.

As Callie and I entered the next foster home, we were hopeful that things would be better this time, because it was an apartment, not a house. Giving us hope of less abuse and neglect as the walls in the buildings are thin and neighbors could hear every word that would be said too loud at us. We were wrong. Callie and I were put on a strict schedule - when we wake up, what time we do chores, each of us had assigned bathroom time, if we missed dinner by one minute we wouldn't get any food that day, TV time was strictly to just 1h a day, lights out at 9PM and so on. With the strict schedule, there was also the a certain hot water limit allowed. Our showers were limited to 3 minutes. If the hot water limit at the end of the month was over the limit they had put down, we would get a beating. It applied to how much they spent on food, electricity, also medicine. With that in mind, I started to take showers at school gym after school ended, so I could properly wash my hair. Of course the gym teacher noticed, called me out on it. That time, I came up with a lie about repairs that went on in at the place I lived at and that we had turned off water for a while.

In previous school I was approached by school psychologist about my black eye. I lied, not wanting my foster father to be called to school, and said I got it from playing baseball, when the ball hit me right in the face. She believed it, because well...all boys play sport. Afterwards, all my injuries were connected with the sport, that I don't even know how to play to begin with.

"I really liked your essay you read at the event last Friday. It stood out from the rest. Your work was truly amazing," Ms. Stein started off with a praise. I assume it was to make herself appear more friendlier, so I would trust her more.

"Thank you," I replied, but felt slightly worried as to where this conversation will lead. If she thinks I'm being neglect in any kind of way, she could report it to CPS. If there is a report, they are obliged to look into it. An investigation into our family is the last thing we needed. Dad has not been in a good place these past few weeks. He hit the rock bottom, when he came to the school event drunk. That was the worst Callie and I have ever seen him.

"I noticed your sister in the audience, but not your father. How do you feel about your father missing your performance?"

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to avoid her gaze at all cost, fearing that she could read the truth or the fear in my eyes "My sister was there...so it was all good."

Him not showing up to see me, did hurt and upset me. While to dad it might have seen insignificant achievement, it felt huge to me. It was one of the rare moments that I felt truly proud of myself. For the first time, I wasn't the kid in the background, who didn't stand out from the rest. Even if it was for three minutes, everyone's eyes were on me. Everyone was watching me. They applauded me!

To be honest, I cared more about Callie being there, than dad. Seeing Callie in the audience was enough to make up for the fact that dad was not there. If it wasn't for her, I doubt I would even go up on the stage. Without someone out in the audience for you, with who you can share the achievement, is not worth doing.

"Your sister is really supportive of you," She commented "It must be great to have an older sibling like her."

"Yeah," I replied without missing a beat "Callie's great. I love her very much."

"I'm sure she loves you just as much," Ms. Stein said trying to assure me, but I have never doubted that. Callie has never been shy to telling me that. Just like mom used to do. I remember mom would tell me multiples times a day, just how much she loved me. Callie has adopted that habit from mom.

I don't remember the last time dad told me he loved me. The last hug I received from him was the day we moved back into this house. It was close to year ago. I'm not even sure if he's proud of me. Sometimes it feels like I'm not the son he wanted, like I'm not good enough for him. Maybe to him, I was a disappointment. I have no way of knowing how he felt about me, because we don't speak about it.

"I was there when your dad did show up afterwards. That must have been embarrassing to witness...seeing your dad acting like that in front of the whole school...your friends and classmates" she said softly as she tried to catch my gaze. For a brief moment I granted her the pleasure of looking back to her, only because I wanted to see how invested she seemed about the whole thing.

Averting my eyes back on my hands, I replied in a quiet and small voice, not really sure what else I could say as I sure as hell didn't want to admit it "Maybe."

"Jude," She leaned a bit closer to me "I am a bit worried, knowing that it's just dad, who looks after you," she stated carefully "Has your dad ever done something similar? In previous schools or maybe coming to get you at a birthday party?" I kept my answer non-verbal as I shook my head

"Has he ever hurt you, while under the influence?" Just from her voice and the look in her eyes, I could tell, she was thinking about all kinds of horrible things my father has done to me.

A drunk is in-predictable. She probably thought about how diabolical he was while drunk - screaming at us, cursing, throwing things, breaking stuff, being aggressive and violent, insulting and putting me down, and putting everyone, including himself, in danger. But that's not how he is. Dad sings a lot, when drunk. Mostly, he's just being loud, but dad often seems more happy than he is while sober. Also, he talks a lot more. Dad has never been aggressive towards me or Callie, he's not a cruel man. In fact I have noticed that dad is starting to go to bars more often in the last couple of weeks. I honestly believe it's because he doesn't want us to see him drunk at home and doesn't want us to feel threatened or scared to be in our home.

The fact is - I have never been afraid of dad.

"No!" I responded confidently, so she doesn't get any ideas.

"How often does your dad often enjoys an alcoholic beverage?" Her questioned just kept coming "Every day, every other day, on weekends, when he's sad or upset?"

"It was his and moms wedding anniversary," I came up with a quick lie to cover up for dad and to try and get her to back off. I know it wasn't what she asked, but I knew if I had said - yes, it happens every day- she would call the CPS, with me in the room, but if I had said - no, he doesn't usually drink at all - she would have seen right though my lie. This way, I gave her a valid reason/excuse as to why he had gotten so drunk that day. It was personal and very reasonable excuse. Besides, their wedding anniversary was not something that she could look up easily.

"Since mom died, dad's been really sad," I continued on to sell the lie "He even took a day off so he could go visit moms grave that day. I guess, he simply…drank a little too much. I can tell he still misses her very much."

"Oh," Ms. Stein softly breathed out. There was a moment of silence between us. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I waited if she bought the lie. Ms. Stain seemed more persistent than the other school staff that has ever wondered about my living situation.

After that, her questions started to dim down. Few small lies later, I left her office and headed to the next class, with a slip from her about why I had missed the first ten minutes.

All I needed was to get her off my back for a week, till the school ends. I was certain, she won't remember me, my dad or what had happened the next school year. Walking away from her office, I felt very confident, that she won't try to look further into our living situation and that she believed my lie. Besides dad showing up drunk once to school, she had no other reason to be suspicion as nothing else pointed towards neglect or abuse.

With my head up high and no longer worrying about the whole situation, I walked to my class and continued on with my usual day.

But as it turned out, all was not as good as I thought it was.

During the day, I did start to notice a strange pattern. At lunch, I saw Ms. Stein talking to my math teacher. I caught them watching me couple of times, which made me think they were discussing me and I was sure, it wasn't about my grades. Later, as I walked down the hallway, heading to my next class, she was chatting with another one of my teachers and once again, their eyes were on me. They tried to be discreet about it, but it's safe to say they failed. What worried me even more was, when I was leaving the school, Ms. Stein walked up to couple of my classmates, with whom I sometimes talk. All the kids glanced towards me as they saw me standing on the other side of the school yard. It felt like was doing her own little investigation on me, gathering information and other people thoughts about my living situation. That thought alone made me more restless. One thing was sure, Ms. Stein was more resilient than all my previous school counselor.

I had no idea what to do and how to fix this mess Donald had put as in. If I walk up and start to get defensive, that's a clear sign I want them to back off, because I have something to hide. If I do or say nothing, then it's completely out of my hands, and all I can do is sit and wait as some stranger decides my future.

As I turned around and walked home, I hoped and prayed that Ms. Stein won't make a report.


	13. Chapter 13

Stef POV

Walking into the station, I couldn't contain the yet another yawn.

Last couple of nights, I haven't had the best night of sleep. I have been restless ever since Callie convinced me not to call the CPS on their family. That night, when I drove to pick them up, I was completely convinced I was going to make the call for I simply could not take it, knowing how those poor kids were being treated by their father. The weight of the decision I made, was still on my shoulders and I couldn't get it out of my mind, especially during night time. There were times, when it felt like I made the wrong choice. But whenever I Callie or Jude come to mind, how happy they are by simply being with one another, I'm reminded why I did not pick up my phone and at that time, I know, I made the right choice.

"Stef, there's someone waiting for you in the break room," a fellow officer, who was already sitting at their desk doing paperwork, told me as I slumped down by my desk

"What?" I was not sure that I had heard him right

"There is a girl, waiting for you in the break room," He repeated, pointing the pen towards the break room. The statement woke me up, like a cold bucket of water would. Just like that, I was alert and wide awake all because, I knew only one person, who would be referenced by the word - girl - and who would come see me at the station.

I turned to the break room and extended my neck upwards, trying to see inside the room though the small glass in the door.

"She's been waiting for since early morning, actually," My colleague added before grabbing the folder on his desk, standing up and walking towards the Captain Roberts office

As I got up from my chair, I checked my phone to see if I had any unread messages or missed calls from her. Once I saw that she hadn't tried to contact me, the first place my mind went was not a good one. I hadn't talked to her since last Saturday, when I wrote her and asked if everything is okay at home after the eventfull Friday. She had replied, that they are fine and asked me not to worry about them. Lena saw the two kids at the drop-in center, when she went to tutor Jude, and, when she returned home, she confirmed what Callie had said. They had seem the same way they always did - with smiles on their faces, happy. I was only going to see her later today, if visiting her at the drop-in center wasn't going to be canceled by her.

I bumped into the corner of my desk as I hurried to the break room, worrying that something might have happened to her or Jude. Rubbing my sore thigh, that I had banged at the corner, I peaked through the glass window in the doors.

When I saw her sitting peacefully at the coffee table, with her phone in her left , but a a cup of drink in her right, from which steam was raising, my racing heart finally relaxed and I calmed down significantly. Her backpack was tossed at the end of the couch and some books and notebooks peaked out. My mood instantly got better seeing that she was perfectly fine, just looking slightly bored.

As I opened the doors to the room, the very well known and pleasant smell of coffee instantly reached my nose. I greeted her in a cheerful manner for I truly was happy to see the young girl "Hey, you!"

Callie's head snapped up at me, but the next moment a bright, wide smile decorated her face, which warmed my heart and put a huge smile on my lips.

"Hey!" she locked her phone, put it on the table in front of her and watched as I walked over to her. Callie pulled her bag to herself and put it on the other side of her, to give me room to sit down.

"My colleague said you have been waiting for me since early morning."

"Not that long...just since 7am," Callie replied, her voice got quieter at the end like she didn't want me to hear it. She eyed how I reached for her beverage and looked at the drink. I knew very well, she was not my kid, but still, I did not like the fact that Callie was drinking the highly addictive, caffeine filled drink. This bad habit can be the reason for her not getting enough sleep at nights, among other harmful effects, like heart or blood pressure problems

"Since 7? You must be up from 6!" My eyes grew big and I asked in disbelief while I got up with the drink in my hand and went over to the small sink and counter that stood next to the machine "Why were you up so early? Having trouble sleeping?" I questioned, looking over my shoulder, with raised eyebrow, eyeing the girl closely

"What are you doing with my drink?" Callie wondered first, but afterwards replied to my question "I slept just fine. Jude woke me up, told me to iron his good pants and white shirt for the last school day. He said he wanted to look good," the girl smirked at me, telling me with her eyes just how cute she had found her brothers enthusiasm to look good

"Aww, now I just want to see how cute he looked dressed up!"

"I have a photo!" Callie reached for her phone and wiggled it in the air "I can send it to you!"

"Oh, yes please!" I grinned at her

"To answer your question - I'm getting you something without caffeine in it," I replied to her while I poured her drink down the sink and threw the cup out. The drinks here were free, so it wasn't like she lost money on it. I pushed the button for hot water and picked out a peppermint tea from the tea collection.

My phone on my belt buzzed, telling me I got the picture from Callie. I stopped to make the drink, briefly, and grabbed my phone. Seeing little Jude in his suit, was almost too much for my heart. If I had been there, I would have taken 50 photos instead of just one. I forwarded it to Lena, knowing this picture will make her day.

"Don't you have last day of school as well?" I asked as I finished pouring water in the paper cup

"Nop," she shook her head "Classes for this whole week and then school trips, getting my grade card, sport days and other uselss and boring events next week.

I looked at the clock on my phone "Then….aren't you suppose to be in class?"

"Some teachers are going to a seminar of some sort. My classes only start at 10," Callie replied indiferently

I squinted my eyes at her "Do you know, how many times I have been told that lie by kids?"

"Hey, it's the truth!" Callie defended as I walked over to her and set the drink down in front of her. Next moment she extended her arm and held her phone out for me "You can call my school and ask if you don't believe me!"

"Okay, okay!" I raised my hands up in defeat "I believe you kid!"

"You must be the first," Callie chuckled back, but I don't think it was meant as a joke. Her remark made my heart sting a little. I remember the twins making remarks like that about their previous life, like they meant it as a joke, but while in all honestly, that's how they truly had felt. Unwanted, unloved, unworthy, like no one would believe or even listen to them.

"Careful, it's hot!" I warned once Callie nursed the cup in her hands. She blew on the drink for a while, then took a slow, small sip, careful not to burn herself.

"So," I spoke up while rubbing my hands together, watching how Callie gazing down to her new beverage "I'm here. What's up?" I clasped my palms together, giving her my full undivided attention

"Oh, uhh…" Callie licked her lips and put the cup down on the table, before reaching for her bag. She pulled out a small, transparent plastic bag "Nothing really. I just wanted to bring you back your sweater, you let me borrow the other night and…" she put the bag on her lap, opened it and got out a package "Wet wipes!" Callie wiggled them in the air for me, before putting them back in the plastic bag "I used all of yours," the girl said and handed me the bag

"Callie, you didn't have to bring it back. Or buy the wet wipes," I said refusing to take the bag from Callie's hands. The wipes cost so little and it wasn't an exclusive product.

For some reason, I felt better, when the sweater was with her. I wanted to believe that the slightly over sized sweater I used to own, soothed her. In my mind, I picture her putting it on at nights, which gives her warmth, comfort and the feeling that everything is going to be okay. But more than anything, I wanted to believe that when she wore it, she is reminded that there is someone out there, that cares and worries about her.

"But it's your sweater," Callie argued back trying to place the plastic bag in my lap. I put my hand on her wrist, stopping the motion.

"Nah," I shook my head as I looked down to the small plastic bag. I took the bag from her hand, reached over her and put it back in her backpack "I want you to have it!"

Callie looked to me puzzled after staring at her backpack "Really?"

"Yes, really," I bumped my knee to hers softly and playfully as I smiled at her "It looked good on you!"

A genuine smile spread across her lips and afterwards we fell into a comfortable moment of silence. Callie reached for her cup and took another sip.

"Thank you," Callie said taking me by surprise, gazing down to her drink and only briefly looking up to me, to see if I had heard her

"What for?" I asked keeping my eyes on the girl next to me. She had sounded so genuine, sincere and grateful. I could tell she said it from the bottom of her heart and meant it.

"For picking up when we called," she started to list, still avoiding my gaze by keeping her eyes on the drink "For coming, for helping, for being so nice to me…to Jude, for making sure we were okay, for staying with us for a while, for not calling the CPS," Callie finally looked to my eyes "For everything you have done!"

I didn't manage to say anything back as her eyes, once again, were lowered and she spoke up again "And I'm sorry as well…"

"Why are you sorry?" I was racking my brain, trying to think of one thing she should feel sorry about, but I couldn't think of anything.

There was a dead silence in the room for a very short period of time, till slowly Callie raised her head up and her eyes met mine, this time, for good "For calling," she admitted timidly "For taking you away from your family, for involving you in…our mess," Callie took in a shaky breath "For putting you in _that_ position to begin with. It's not what I wanted!" she sniffed and ran her palm quickly over her nose, wiping it "All I wanted was…was a friend. I'm so sorry." At the end of her heartfelt apology, I saw tears lingering in her eyes, threaten to fall.

I never had thought she felt so guilty about it. When I met her at the station, I had gotten the feeling that she wasn't going to be the emotional type. After remembering and learning, what the kids had been put through, I thought that experience had only toughened her even more. I had expected walls, layers after layers. I had expected she was going to fight everyone, who ever gets close to her. I had expected an angry kid, who hates everyone and anything. I had expected, I would have to make some pressure on her to learn about her current living situation and her whole life actually.

Allowing herself to be so vulnerable - I did not anticipate. This side of her surprised me, in the most positive way. She was reaching out, asking for help without saying it. One thing was sure- Callie allowed me to get this close and she allowed me into her life, just like Jude was allowing Lena into his. These kids were now relying on us for emotional support and quite possibly, looking to us whenever they craved a parent like affection.

We couldn't allow to make mistakes now. They expected us to be there for them. These kids were now depending on us.

"Hey, hey!" I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder pulling her to my side "You have nothing to apologize for. You hear me?" With my other hand I tucked a stray of hair behind her ear to have a better look on her face

"I'm glad that you called. Trust me, when I say, my family is perfectly okay and no one is upset that you and Jude needed my assistance for few hours. If I remember correctly, I've been trying to get involved in your mess since the day at the station," I stroked her hair gently, remembering how much that action soothed a young Mariana, who had been upset and crying. It was the motherly like contact that Mari had craved for for years. I was silently hoping, it was the same with Callie.

"Yes, I will admit, the whole CPS thing is troubling and has given me few sleepless nights, but in the end - I want to do what's best for you and for your brother. You opened my eyes about about what it's like being on the other side. The thought of you aging out of the system and how it would affect you and Jude, hadn't crossed my mind until you told about it. You opened my eyes, Callie"! I detained a little pause, mainly to try and keep my composure intact, but also to give Callie a little bit of time for my words to sink in

I took a couple of seconds to think about what to say next "I'm not sorry, that I got involved. If anything, I'm glad. Trust me, when I say, I want to be part of your life, just like Lena wants to be part of Jude's!"

Callie was watching me intensely for a while, her lower lip quivered, but she managed to hold it together. I could see the relief in her eyes, that I wasn't upset with her. She let out a slow, a little bit shaky breath, but then timidly lowered her head to my shoulder.

"It's okay!" I kissed the top of her head. Holding her in my arms I soothed her "Everything's okay, sweetie!"

* * *

"Do you need a ride to school?" I asked as Callie and I walked out of the break room together

"Nah," Callie slid her hands in her pants front pockets "I'll walk, I have an hour to kill anyway."

I rested my palm gently on her upper arm for a second "Then I will see you later today at the drop-in center."

"Yeah, till later!" Callie smiled at me before leaving the station.

Standing in the hallway, watching her walk away, I heard footsteps walking up to me. I recognized those footsteps as Captain Robert's. She stood next to me and for a short period of time, we stood side by side in silence. Other officers walk passed, without paying much attention to us. Phones rang and people chatted in the background, but I just took these couple of seconds to reflect on everything.

"It seems as though, you and that girl were quite close," Roberts stated, when I finally had glanced to my boss

"I'm just…looking out of for her," I said trying to sound modest and not make a big deal out of it

"Last time, I saw you with this look in your eyes, you and Lena took under your wing the twins. I know how large your heart is, but…four kids? Are you really up to it, Stef?"

"Actually-" I tilted my head a little to one side as I started to picture in my mind the life I would have - the twins not wanting to share their room, all the kids bickering, all the mischief they would do together, the hectic mornings, fights over TV remote, what movies to watch, all of them calling shotgun, when going on a family outing, the mess the kitchen table would be after breakfast, dinner and supper, the mass of dirty dishes to, loads of laundry, how little energy Lena and I would have just to keep all 5 of them in order and out of trouble. Gosh, I loved the idea of a full house "-it would be 5!"

"You two really are crazy," Captain smirked while patting my shoulder, before walking away. All I could do, was smile at the thought of seeing the Jacob smiley faces at our kitchen table every day.

* * *

My work shift was coming to an end. There was about a half an hour left. Mike and I were out on a patrol, driving around the city block. The radio was on and constant police chatter was heard along. Streets were busy as it was the end of the work day for most of the people. There were lot of people, lot of bycicles and runners.

"-assistance needed. Lexington st. 104-" a part of the call from the radio riveted my attention. My heart rate spiked as did my concern for two certain kids. This was the call I was dreading - hearing the Jacob address being said over the radio. It was a small consolation that the dispatcher hadn't used the word - domestic disturbance.

"That's where Callie and Jude live!" I shouted out to Mike, who at first seemed to be lost by my sudden interest in call so close to the end of or our shift. He probably wanted to leave this call to other squad as our shift was almost over, but I had other plans.

Needing to be the one that responds to it, I quickly I grabbed the radio myself and answered, before anyone else could. After flipping the siren on, I floored it and raced towards the Jacob family home.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Hi! Thank you everyone for reading and for the support. It's been an absolute pleasure to work on this story. Fun fact- the scene at the end sparked the whole idea for this story. Hope you enjoy :)**

Stef POV

Two sedans stood in front of the Jacob house. One was in the same color as Lena's old Volvo - dark green, but the car I parked the squad car behind, was light grey Volkswagen, it had a small bump on the rear right bumper from a fender bender, as well as a sticker on the back window - _kids on board._

There were lights in the house and I could see Donald through the kitchen window. I saw him enter the room in his peculiar slow, sluggish manner. He walked up to the fridge, opened it and took out a drink. After opening the bottle with his hands, he raised it up to his lips and chugged the drink down, but then he slumped down at the kitchen table, burying his head in his palms. That to me seemed like a broken man.

Getting out of the car, I scanned the nearby houses. On the right side of Jacob house, I noticed an older woman looking out the window. She looked like a typical senior, trying to gather enough information for gossip with other seniors. If by any chance, I would need to ask around, if anyone saw something suspicious - this woman would be my first stop. She probably stays by the window most of her days and could tell all her neighbor schedules, knew where each adult worked, with whom the neighborhood kids hung out, would also know if anyone here was having an affair, and most likely, also knew about Donald's drinking problem.

The house itself was quiet. No suspicious sounds were coming from it. There was no yelling or screaming, objects weren't being broken and thrown around, no sing of any conflict what so ever. The only thing that looked out of the ordinary were the two cars by the house, because I knew the Jacobs didn't own a car.

"Seems quiet," Mike concluded as we walked up to the front doors. I agreed to him with a hum back.

"This is the police! Open up!" Mike knocked on the door three times. Same as Mike, I rested my hands on the police belt as we waited for someone to open up.

The footstep that we heard leading up to the front doors were too light and quick for them to be Donald's. I thought I heard heels, so it must be a woman. And I was right, a woman in her early 30's opened the door a moment later. She had coal, wavy dark hair fell over her shoulder and glasses. The overall impression was that she could potentially be a bookworm. To me, it looked like she was new to the job. I could almost smell the new blood on her. The woman looked slightly bit confused.

"Officers!" She sighed seeing us, though, it wasn't in relief seeing us. More like, she looked guilty.

"I'm officer Foster, this is my partner Adams Foster. We were called for assistance. What seems to be the problem, ma'am?" Mike questioned as the woman still stood in the doorway, holding on to the door handle.

"I'm Natalia Palmer. I work with the Child Protective Services," She introduced herself, but then went on to apologize "I'm so sorry, Officers. It turned out, we didn't need your help after all. We were taking precaution, knowing the fathers alcoholism history and thought Donald Jacob would refuse, resist and put up a fight, but that was not the case."

"Are you here to remove Mr. Jacob kids?" I asked, dreading the answer, trying to stay professional and keep my feelings aside.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Natalia confirmed calmly, but with certainty in her voice.

"We would sill like to come in and check for ourselves. Make sure that everything is okay," I replied giving her a nod to suggest she let us in.

"Of course," Natalia said and stepped aside, letting us in.

Once inside, I glanced towards the kitchen. Donald didn't even raise his head up to look, who came in his house. I saw him clean his mouth in his palm, before he ran the same hand over his face, looking even more miserable than I have seen him. The man looked broken, as if he had given up completely. Which made me think, that while Donald did not show it, deep down the kids still meant a lot to him and loosing them again, was another hard blow that he might not be able to deal with. Loosing the kids, might make the alcohol problem even worse than it already was. He might not leave the house for days, resulting in losing his job and house, his health might decrease. For the first time, I felt sorry for the guy.

Looking at Mike, I noticed the way he was looking at the man. To me, it felt like Mike saw himself in the man. I will never forget the devastated look on Mike's face after he had hit the rock bottom, and I hadn't allowed him to see Brandon. Keeping Brandon away from him at that time, was the right thing to do as I simply didn't want B to see his father like that, but it certainly wasn't an easy decision to make. It was a risk, that thankfully payed of with Mike. He's now a changed man. In no way Mike is perfect, but he is better than he was years ago. He always tries his best with B and the twins as well. His relationship with Lena improved as well and at least now they can be in the same room alone for hours and be civil with one another, without Mike going off on Lena, blaming her for everything that happened with him and his family.

"Was this a random check up or...?" I wondered wanting to get to the bottom of this

"No, we got a report few days back about Mr. Jacob. Knowing this families past, me and my colleague started to look into it," Natalia answered

"We went to the school. Talked to the kids teachers, classmates. We talked to people at Donald's, we talked to people at Callie's work, we talked to their neighbors," she continued as we were lead towards the kids rooms, where some kind of activity was going on.

"They all pretty much said the same thing - Donald was drinking and his alcoholism problem only got worse with each passing week," Natalia added sadly looking over her shoulder to us.

We stopped at Jude's room, the woman turned to us as she continued to explain "There was an event at the school to which Donald showed up wasted, the kids had to take him home. The kids father has even been arrested for drinking some few weeks back. Neighbors have seen Callie helping Donald get back home after getting drunk at a bar in the middle of a night. They also knew to tell that it was mostly Callie, who was looking after Jude. Callie's boss confirmed it as well."

Natalia paused and let out a small sigh, before she concluded "Donald is neglecting his kids. They are left to care for themselves. He abdicated his responsibility for his children long before we got the report and he hasn't shown any signs that he even wants to fight for his kids today! He went straight for a cold beer," She gestured to the kitchen, where Donald was last seen, and slowly shook her head as it was clearly seen how this situation upset her "So, we didn't have any other choice than to come here and take the kids out."

"That's...rough," I sighed. I simply could not understand, why Donald wasn't fighting for his kids. I wanted to walk over to him and shake him by his shoulders, till he realizes, what he is going to miss out on if he doesn't fight for them. As I thought about it, Jude appeared in the doorway.

"Stef!" Jude called out the second he saw me. He ran up to me and hugged me tighter than he ever had, before looking up to me with his big brown eyes, that held fear and sadness in them, and said in worry "They are putting us back in foster care. Callie and I are going to be split up. Do something, please!" A lump formed in my throat as I looked down to the kid, who was pleading me to help him and his sister

"You know them?" Natalia squinted her eyes at me, looking at me suspiciously. This was a conflict of interest for me. I knew that, Mike knew that and the CPS now knew that as well.

"I do," I confirmed with a small head nod, after glancing down to Jude and moving my hand over to his shoulder as he stood by my left side

A moment later, an older looking woman came out of his room, holding Jude's bag in her hand. It was stuffed full. I recognized her as the same woman, who had come to take them the time Colleen died. The wrinkles and bags under her eyes showed just how much this job has affected her. The stress of the job had left its mark. She had gained weight as well.

After sharing a look with the woman, she recognize me as well "Office Foster, if I remember correctly?"

"It's Adams Foster now," I answered and gestured to my ex-husband "My partner Officer Foster," Both of the woman gave weird looks our way, but didn't comment on our surnames.

"I apologize about the false call," Mrs. Hawthorn repeated what he her colleague had said after briefly glancing to Natalia

"Don't worry about that. Natalia already explained the situation," Mike replied putting the woman at ease about it "Better safe than sorry."

"Why are you splitting them up?" I questioned, looking between the two woman. This was what the kids were afraid of the most. Jude was now standing beside me, clinging on to my hand.

"There aren't any families willing to take both of them in," Mrs. Hawthorne explained "When they were younger, it was easier. Both of them aren't exactly...angels as well," The last statement sounded like they were blaming the kids for everything that happened in the foster care, while that was not the case at all. It was not fair, nor was it right. For them it was easier to to blame the kids than to make countless investigations into all of the foster families.

"Callie is almost 18 and has a record, but Jude is a teenager now," Once she added, it was like an alarm rang in my head all of a sudden and I realized, I haven't seen Callie or even heard her. There weren't any noises coming from her room or bathroom. Jude was holding on to me, because his sister was not here. If Callie had been here, when they arrived, I was sure, things hadn't gone so smoothly and she would be refusing to leave, loudly.

"Where is Callie?" I questioned, looking around the house

"She's on her way home from her work," Mrs. Hawthorn said after sharing a look with her partner "It's easier this way. I'm going to take Jude to his foster home, but Natalia is going to wait for Callie, then drive her to her new home," she said, suggesting they won't even allow the kids to say goodbye to each other, and put her palm on Jude's shoulder "Come Jude-"

"What? No!" I exclaimed putting my hand on top of hers and taking it off Jude's shoulder "You can't do this!" I protested, expressing my dislike loud and clear

"I'm afraid we have no other choice!" the woman was stubborn and was not backing down, but luckily I wasn't about to either as I still had my cards to play

"I'm a foster parent!" I blurt out, even though Lena and I haven't gotten our fostering license back yet, there was still an house inspection to be schedule, but it was a worth a shot "I can take them in! Both of them. You don't have to split them up!"

"Are you, really?" She seemed skeptical for she must have seen through my little lie. The woman probably knew how to tell a lie as it was part of her job.

"Okay, our license hasn't been renewed yet, but-"

"But nothing! That's not how this works, Officer Adams Foster!" Mrs. Hawthorn cut me off "We have a protocol we have to follow, the same way police officers do! There is a family expecting Jude and there is a bed, for Callie, in a group home. All the necessary paperwork is already done."

"A group home? Really? Couldn't you find her a temporary foster family?"

"Like I said, no one wants a kid with record. She should thankful, that a bed cleared out in one of the group home."

I ran my hand over my face in frustration, as my arm flew down to my side, I came up with another angle I could try "Call Bill Levine and-"

It came to me as a shock, when Mrs. Hawthorn stated back "Bill no longer works at the CPS. Look, if you want to help these kids...file the paperwork, once you have gotten your license renewed, but till then...I'm sorry, but I have a job to do and right now, you are not helping!"

Callie POV

By the time I reached home, I was almost out of my breath completely. After I had received a very strange call from my dad, I had ran out of the drop-in center so fast, that I had forgotten my backpack. I didn't speak to my boss, nor did I stop to inform Lena, who was still waiting for Jude to come to the tutor session, about what's going on.

I had a very bad feeling after I received the phone call from Donald. Usually, Donald only calls me, when he wants me to pick up something from the store. But this time, dad sounded off. Way off! It was like an alarm went off in my head, flashing with red light and giving out a rasp sound. So I dropped what I was doing, and ran out, without looking back.

When I turned the corner, I briefly stopped, leaned down, pressing my hands to my knees to catch my breath. I was breathing heavily and my throat ached a little from the cold air I had been breathing in while running. It felt like my heart could jump out of my mouth any moment, it was beating fast and hard against my chest. My feet hurt. As I looked up, I saw a police car and two other cars parked by our house, that's when I got my second breath.

I sprinted like I had never ran before. My gym teacher would be impressed.

As I was four houses away, I saw a woman leading Jude to one of the cars. She opened the doors to him and Jude climbed in. The woman closed the doors after him and carried a bag, Jude's bag, to the truck. Three other people came down the path that lead from the house and watched.

The woman by the car said something to the other three, before climbing in the drivers seat.

"Juuuuude!" I shouted out as loud as I could as I still kept running, hoping the driver would hear me "Don't go! Jude!" But only the three people on the path turn towards me

"Staaaap" I yelled, hoping the driver of the car would hear me "Jud-" as I shouted my brothers name, but my right foot tripped over something on the pavement. Loosing my footing, I flew, till I hit the ground hard and painfully, breaking the fall with my wrist. The pain I was in, didn't stop me. Not for a second. I got up to my feet and picked up my speed, though, limping at first.

"Ju-uuu-de!" I shouted right as the car engine started. A dog started to bark somewhere in the neighborhood. I got the feeling people were looking out their windows to see, what was all the commotion about.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the person, on the path, started to walk towards me, though I did not pay much attention to whoever it was. My brother was the only one who I saw, as I had tunnel vision. Nothing else, no one else mattered.

When I was by the house, I was close enough to see how Jude turned in the back seat and looked at me, through the back window as the car started to gain speed. He put his hand on the back window as he watched me.

Tears or sweat were running down my face as I ran after the car, that was taking away my brother. I can catch it - if I try hard enough, I can catch up to it! My feet hit the ground so fast, for a moment, it felt like I was flying. I ran pass the two cars that stood by our house, I ran pass the house, I ran pass the three adults, who simply stood and watched. Following the car, I sprinted pass the next four houses on the block, all while calling out my brothers name and begging whoever was in the car to stop. But the car showed no indication of slowing down or stopping.

They can't take him away, without giving me a chance to say goodbye. To give him a hug. One last kiss. I needed to tell him I love him and that I will find him. Him being taken away like this, felt all too similar to mom leaving. I couldn't let that happen.

I ran, till the car turned at the intersection, where it went out of my sight. Dropping to my knees right in the middle of the street. A car drove towards me on the other lane. The driver of it gave me a weird look as it passed. Soon after, someone behind me honked, but the next second a car passed me on the left side of the street. With my chin quivering, tears clouding my eyesight, heavy breath and sore and aching body I whispered to myself "I love you, Jude." All that was missing, was a heavy rain.

So I sat, miserable and broken, in the middle of the street, crying quietly to myself, till I heard a familiar voice "Callie?"

My body stiffen at the sound of Stef's voice. I became quiet. No more cries, no sniffles - I did not make a single sound. Unlike before, when hearing and seeing her brought me peace, sense of security and happiness, all I felt was rage against her. She betrayed me and it hurt so bad. Stef was the last person I wanted to see or speak to.

"I'm...I'm sorry, honey!" her voice was as soft as a dove, like that time, when she told us about moms death.

That did it. That made my blood boil, grin my teeth and pull my hands in fists. Jumping up to my feet, I turned towards her and with grinned teeth yelled "This is your fault!" I came at her, swinging my fist at her

"Callie-" Stef jumped back, evading my first attempt to hit her "What are...Cal, stop!"

"Hey, knock it off!" I heard someone yell from the sidelines, but I did not care, nor did I listen

I came at her again and again, till I finally did get my hands on her. Stef lost her footing and stumbled backwards after managed to I pushed her. Before she got her stance and guard back up, I managed to hit her, by putting all of my anger out on her. Some hits Stef had managed to deflect with my forearms, couple of hits hit her chest, shoulder and upper arm region, but one punch reached her face and my knuckles bruised her cheek. Not once did Stef try to hit me back, all she was trying to do was to evade my hits, maybe trying to grab my wrist to make me stop.

"I trusted you!" I shouted at her as tried to hit her again, but this time, my effort was stopped, when I first felt my left arm being grabbed from behind me, then my right. Stef now stood still. Her cheeks were slightly flushes. She started at me bewildered and shocked.

"Stop!" A man told me from behind me, his voice was low, yet clear "Callie, stop! Stop resisting!" he urged me as he continued to hold me, while I struggled against him trying to get out of his hold.

"You lied...you looked to my eyes and lied!" I screamed at Stef, while I managed to kick whoever was holding me. The man behind me only grunted in pain, but didn't even loosen the grip on me.

"That's enough. Stop fighting!" The man tightened the grip on me. He overpowered me, by making me drop to my knees, with my hands behind my head. I heard the familiar sound of handcuffs and the next moment, the cold metal touched my wrists, tightening around them. My hands, one by one were lowered down.

Once the handcrafts were being tightened around my wrist, I was told I was being arrested for assault on police officer, but I could not care less as I continued to gave a cold glare to Stef.


	15. Chapter 15

Stef POV

From what I saw at the Jacob residence earlier today, I came to a realization that the kids had inherited most of their personality traits from their mother, not Donald. If I didn't know any better, I would guess they aren't even related. I saw nothing from Donald in Callie. The way Callie and Donald had reacted to Jude being taken away couldn't be any more different. Donald gave up straight away. He hadn't put up even the slightest resistance with the CPS, instead he found comfort in the bottle of a cold beer. And by how I last saw him, I was quite certain he wasn't going to attempt to get his kids back. He had accepted it.

Unlike her father, Callie fought. No matter how grim the situation looked, it didn't stop Callie from giving all of her in trying to get her brother back. She had ran after the car down the road and didn't give up until the car was out of her sight completely. She broke down almost instantly. The pain she must have felt at that moment, must have been too much for her as she had fallen to her knees, sobbing.

Callie getting aggressive and throwing punches at me only couple of minutes later, was not something I had anticipated happening. In fact, it took me off guard. I had never seen that side of her. The only incident where she had come off aggressive that I knew off, was before she was arrested. From what I was told, she got defensive while trying to protect Jude.

I had remained standing in the middle of the street, watching how Mike had restrained her, read her rights, but then taken her to the car. For a while, I thought I had imagined it happening. I was waiting for Lena to wake me up, saying I was drenched in cold sweat, tossing and turning, while having nightmare. It wasn't until Mike came to talk to me, that I finally snapped out of it.

The ride to the station was a blur for I had zoned out again, trying to figure out why Callie had acted that way towards me. It wasn't until we arrived at the station, that I understood why she did what she did. Considering all that had happened to her - seeing Jude getting taken away, not being able to say good-bye, knowing she was going to be put back in foster her again, seeing her father slowly killing himself everyday for the last year or so, thinking I went behind her back and betrayed her - I did not blame her for loosing it. She was furious, hurting and in shock at the same time, she felt betrayed by me and the system, and the only person, who she has ever truly loved and cared for, was being taken for her. In addition, for all she knew, I was the one who called the CPS, because she didn't know anyone else who might have been on to something. We had discussed it a couple of times, I had expressed my concern to her and even mentioned calling the CPS. In her eyes I was the only one who could have made the report. In the heat of the moment, Callie had acted without thinking. I was glad she chose me as her target to take her anger out, because if it hadn't been me, she would be standing in front of a Judge, facing possible jail time that would put a big, fat stop to her life for good.

I wasn't going to press charges against Callie. The idea never even crossed my mind. I do not wish to see her suffer any more than she already has.

My shift had ended about an hour ago, but today, unlike any other workday, I was in no hurry heading home. For 15 minutes, I was outside the station, pacing back and forth the parking lot, while I was on the phone with Lena. While I was at the Jacob resident, she had called me multiple times and left a message: _I think something happened at Callie and Jude's home. Call me as soon as you can._ Even though it was only a text, I sensed my wife urgency and concern in the words. I could practically hear her voice as I read the message.

During the phone call, I informed her about everything that had happened - why Jude hadn't showed up, why Callie had run out, what had happened at the kids home, why I wasn't home yet, what does the future look like for both of the kids. Safe to say, by the end of the phone call Lena was beyond frustrated with the CPS, angry with Donald for not giving a shit and her heart had broken hearing about the kids fate.

Right now, I was sitting at my desk, leaned back in my chair, staring blankly at the doors on the far end of the room which lead to the holding cells. Her emotions were all over the place. I wanted to give Callie some time to calm down, to gather her thoughts. She needed some time alone for her grief, rage and shock to pass.

From a brief chat with Natalia, I had learned, who had made the report. The way Callie had went off on me, I assumed Jude hadn't told Callie. Quite possibly, because he thought he had it handled and didn't want to worry his sister. To be fair, it wasn't like Callie could have done much about the situation even if Jude had told her. If she had gone to talk to the school psychologist herself, it might have even made her make the report faster. The only thing more suspicious than kid trying to cover and make excuses for their parent - both of the kids lying for their parents.

When I finally did walk to the holding area, I found Callie laying on her left side, facing the wall, on the narrow bench. I got emotional just seeing her through the bars. It felt like someone was tugging the strings of my heart. Her knees were slightly bent, as much as the narrow, metal, cold bench allowed. There were no pillows or blankets, so she had put her palms underneath her head. She looked small, vulnerable and certainly did not belong there.

"Tom," I turned to my colleague "Open it for me, please."

"Sure thing," he grabbed the necessary key and came towards the cell, jiggling the keys in his hands. As he was locking the cell doors, he briefly looked to me "She got you good," Tom snickered at me.

I didn't respond to his comment, because I was in no mood for jokes and teasing, but I knew better than to snap at someone, who didn't know the full story. All I did, was ran my thumb over the area on my cheek, where her knuckled had bruised my skin. It was a bit sensitive and sore, but not nearly enough to say I was in any pain. There was no sign of a contusion, at least there wasn't when I looked at it in the bathroom mirror.

Tom must have sensed that I was not in the mood and dropped the jokes aside. He cleared his throat, pulled the cell doors open and let me in. Once I was in the cell, he closed and locked the cell doors after me and said to me in much more serious voice "I'll be at the desk."

Callie still hadn't moved a muscle, nor had she stirred. Only her chest moved as she breathed evenly. By now, she must have know it was me. Yet she did not show it any way. Maybe her anger towards me had passed, but then again, she might be keeping her feelings to herself from now on. I wasn't sure if her not showing any emotions was a good or bad thing in this situation. Silence seemed as bad as rage fit.

Looking down at her, I noticed that she had cried at some point. There was barely visible stream of tears, rolling over her nose bridge. A wet spot was seen on her sweater sleeve. She wasn't asleep, Callie blinked. Her attention was simply averted to the brick wall in front of her.

For a moment, I stood over her and watched her as I tried to figure out how to start a conversation with Callie, who obviously was in no mood to chat at all. Nothing that I came up with, seemed to be appropriate for this situation. Maybe, this was the time, when words weren't needed at all and me, simply being here, was enough. Apologies and deep conversations could come later. But then again - later, when? What if life screws us over and we no longer see each other again. This, right now, felt like make or break moment.

Wanting to show her that I wasn't mad, wasn't holding a grudge about how she lunged at me, had forgiven her and still very much cared about her - I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her temple. Callie blinked her eyes close and kept them like that for a moment. Hopefully, it was to feel and remember the small affection of love from me rather than hating it and wanting it to blow past her faster.

I crouched down by her, my knees cracked. After a quick consideration, I placed my left hand fondly on top of her head, but my other hand rested on her upper arm. Couple of times I stroked her hair.

"Are you hurt?" I whispered to her

First thing first - I needed to make sure she hadn't hurt her herself. Callie could have fractured a bone from throwing so many punches. I was worried that she had hurt herself while struggling against Mike, while he tried to keep her back from me. As she ran, she took a fall, which to me, from afar, looked quite a nasty and hard fall. The way she had landed, caused me the most concern, because she had broken the fall with her wrist. I won't be calm until I know for sure she hasn't hurt herself.

I waited for her to give me any kind of answer - verbal or non-verbal. Even a simple stir would do. A grunt as she moved a part of her body. Her eyes giving away what part hurt. Anything!

"Callie, love..." I cooed softly and leaned closer to her, trying to situate myself so that I at least saw one side of her face "Please, talk to me. If you are in any kind of pain...I need to know about it, so that I could help you!"

"You have done enough," Callie muttered underneath her nose in a cold tone. Her attitude did not surprise me as I saw it coming miles away.

Even though I hadn't caused all of this, I couldn't bring myself to tell her I hadn't made the report. What does it matter, who made it? It's done. No way of reverse it. I doubted Callie would believe even if I do explain it wasn't me. As silly as it seemed, I was scared Callie would blame Jude for not doing good enough job to cover up for dad and get upset or even angry with him for not telling her about it. Even if those thoughts would cross her mind only for a fractions of second. I have never doubted Callie's love for her brother, but I was worried about the state she was in right now. It was better her anger was turned to me, someone, who wasn't going to take it to heart. I can be the bad guy as long as she needed me to be.

Yet still, I sighed heavily after her remark.

"Please, show me your hand," After waiting a minute, but not receiving any kind of answer from her, I knew I needed to turn to more drastic measures. She has now known me long enough to know the way I were.

"You know I won't leave until I make sure you're not hurt. I know you want me gone, so...the faster you do what I ask, the faster I'm going to leave!" I detained a pause, letting her absorb the new information "What's it going to be?"

Callie took a minute to consider my offer. She stirred, making me take my hands off her and stand up, letting her sit on the bench. Only now, I saw the slightly bruises chin and scratch on the cheek from when she fell. The cuts were dirty: mix of sand, dirt and some blood. Those injuries weren't severe, but still, they needed to be cleaned, the sooner the better. As my eyes traveled down her body, I noticed how she had placed her left palm over her right wrist, like trying to shield it from me so I won't look.

When I reached for her right wrist, Callie flinched at the contact. But not because trying to avoid my touch. It was in pain. She sucked in air through her gritted teeth sharply and winced in pain. Rolling her sleeve up, revealed a swollen wrist. I only needed to see it for a second to react.

"Tom!" I announced standing up "I'm taking her to hospital. She might have broken wrist, best case just a sprain. Nevertheless, she needs medical attention."

"It's fine!" Callie protested and raised her arm up "See-" but she cut herself of as she hissed in pain when trying to move her wrist

"I'm taking you!" I stated

Jude POV

National city - I had never been to this region before. I had heard it was one of the poorest in San Diego. We had drove through this regions as Callie and I were being taken to Chuala Vista to live with Jim Pearson. The idea, that I might ran into him someday, worried me. He was the last person I wanted to see.

The car stopped in front of a one story, sand color house. It had small, white frame windows. There was a low, metal fence around it. The fence doors were broken, hanging on only the top hinges. In front of the house on the uncut grass, just next to the path that lead to the front doors, was a huge pile of boards. Looked like something had been disparaged.

There were two small steps leading up the porch and three boys, who looked to be around my age, sat there. One had a basketball in his hands and he was continuously dribbling it. Looking around I saw no sign of basket anywhere. The boy, who sat next to him, wasn't wearing any shirt. He had something in his hands that he was playing with, paper of some sort. The third boy, who was clearly was the youngest, was sat on the concrete path in front of the steps, with crayons in his hands. He was drawing something, without looking up.

Mrs. Hawthorn grabbed my bag from the truck and carried it for me. The boys observed me closely as we walked by, but didn't say a word. A woman, who I assumed was going to be my new foster mom, opened the doors before Mrs. Hawthorn knocked on the doors. She was middle aged. The wrinkles on her face, suggested she was way over 50. Thin, short, light colour hair. Her body, well, she was close to being called obese. The dress, or maybe it was a robe she was wearing, made her look even older than she was, because it had a horrible flower pattern on. The slippers on her feet looked from the 90's and the only thing she could wear, because I doubt she can bend down and tie shoelaces.

"Ah, hello, hello! Come on in, I was waiting for you." her voice was strident. I could already hear in my mind, how she was most likely going to spend most of the time yelling at me, not talking.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay long," Mrs. Hawthorn replied without stepping a foot inside

"I understand. I'm Kathy Griffin, I'm gonna be your new momma. What's your name, boy?" The woman asked, staring down at me. Her smile was creeping me out. I cringed at her calling herself a momma.

"Jude," I answered barely above whisper, scared.

"Jude here is very tiered and had a rough day, forgive him for his attitude" Mr. Hawthorn added as she placed her hand on my shoulder. I moved, trying to get her hand off me for I was beyond angry with her. This was not the same woman I remember. She had changed, for worse. What was once a caring woman, who actually wanted to help, and do what's best for us, now was someone, who couldn't wait to get rid of her cases. That's what I was - a case. Job. She did not see me as a human being, who's feelings, wish or opinion mattered.

"Here is all of his stuff," Mrs. Hawthorn said, handing my bag over to her "Behave!" she told me, before turned around and walked back to the car. Just like that, he left. Seemed like she was in a hurry to leave and get rid of me.

Reluctantly, I stepped over the doorstep, walked inside and closed the doors behind me. The air inside was stuffy and it smelled like someone had let one rip, a bad one, just moment ago.

"That right there is my hubby, Benjamin or Benny as I like to call him," Kathy pointed towards a man, who was sitting in a big, brown leather swinging armchair "Benny, this is Jude!"

Just like his wife, he was obese. Doubt he could run. I assume even walking was a struggle. Sweat pants and a white tank top was his choice of outfit. Bare feet, I saw his overgrown nails from where I stood. I saw bag of chips, nuts, candy in his lap and cans of coca cola down by the chair and one in his hand as well.

Of course all of the furniture, two armchairs and old looking couch, was turned towards the super large TV screen, that might I say, was almost half the size of the whole wall. But that was all, that was in the room. There were no bookshelf, no coffee table, no cabinet. Just big ass flat screen.

Ben barely turned in his chair and waved his hand at me "Don't touch the coca cola in fridge!" Wired first words, but whatever - I nodded back.

"Kitchen!" Kathy pointed to the room on the right, when we had walked through the living room. Kitchen was small. There was no room for kitchen table. I doubt there was room for both of them at the same time.

"Bathroom," she said as we passed the next doors. I kept nodding my head. It wasn't like there was much to remember about this house.

"Master bedroom. You are not allowed to go in there!" Kathy instructed when we stopped at the end of the hallway.

"This is your room," she pushed open the doors to a small bedroom. There were four single beds situated in each corner and those beds, filled the room. Two beds by each side of the wall. Each bed had one nightstand, but that was it. It did not have any more room for anything else. No desk, no wardrobe, no shelves, no nothing. The other boys must be living out of their bags as well. Some clothes were tossed at the top of their beds. There were some socks on the ground. Just like living room, there was no air here as well, and then I noticed why it was like that. The windows were bolted shut. My guess, a previous foster kid escaped through the window and ran away. Now as a precaution, the window was closed for good.

"Did you met the other boys? They were on the porch?"

"I saw them," I said as I walked over to the bed, where Kathy had put my bag down. It was in the far right corner. Spring bed - I concluded as I sat down on it. I bet there were couple of springs loose that were going to ruin my night sleep. Blank bed covers, looked old. They probably used to be white, but now the color was more dirty white or light grey. The fabric was not soft to touch, nor did it smell like it was washed recently.

"Make your own introductions. My show is about to-"

"Kaaaaathy!"Came a shout from the living room "It's starting!"

"Well...make yourself at home!"

After she left, I put my bag underneath my assigned bed. There was nothing else for me to do, so I walked out to the porch to meet the other kids. The two boys, who sat on the steps, moved closer, make room for me.

The one with the ball, stopped dribbling and smiled at me "I'm Kyle," he looked to be the oldest of the three "This is Byron," Kyle tapped on the boys shoulder, who was making perforations in a sheet of paper with a screw driver, surely out of boredom. Kyle then pointed to the boy who was drawing a picture of a four people family on the concrete path with crayons "And Oliver."

"Jude," I introduced myself. Kyle, Byron and I shook hands, like I had seen real adults do, but afterwards, Kyle resumed dribbling the ball and Byron resumed to make holes in the paper.

"Are you their real kids or-?" I asked, even thought I was pretty sure I knew the answer to it, as neither of the boys had any similar features to Kathy and Benjamin.

"Foster. All of us," Kyle replied and chuckled "How else do you think they can afford this dump?" That was all that I needed to know, to understand what kind of a place this is.


	16. Chapter 16

Jude POV

"Get up you, lazy asses! How long are you all planning on sleeping, huh? This is not a SPA hotel for you!" I jolted up at the sound of doors bang at the wall and my foster mom's screeching voice.

Before I could even realize it, my blanket was pulled away from me, leaving me exposed. Luckily, I do not sleep completely naked. But as it was summer and it was almost 18 degrees (64 F) hot during the night, I was not wearing any shirt or pants, just my underwear. As were my foster brothers. Being seen by my foster mother like this, was not something that I wanted, so I jumped out of the bed and grabbed my shirt and shorts, putting them on as fast as I could. I slipped my feet into my shoes without socks as it felt like I didn't have time to dig through my bag.

"Get on moving!" Kathy put her hand on the back of my head and pushed me roughly. I nearly lost my balance, but thankfully didn't for I had bumped into Byron and he helped me keep me up to my feet. By the look, he wasn't nearly enough alert and shocked by this kind of treatment. They all were being used to it by now - I could see this wasn't affecting them nearly as much as it had affected me. I had forgotten what it was like, but surely, it won't take long for me to get accustomed to this kind of treatment.

"I want the shed in the backyard to be taken down today! You hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kyle complied for all of us, before I followed my foster brothers out of our bedroom

"Don't we get breakfast at least?" I whispered to Byron, who was right in front of me, not wanting my foster parents to hear

"Maybe later once they have eaten," Byron whispered back as we passed the kitchen. Our foster father was sat at the small kitchen table in the corner. This time, he had a large coca-cola bottle by his hand. He burped loudly after drinking from the bottle. There were 4 sausages, couple of bacon slices and 4 slices of sandwiches on his plate. The four of us could have eaten from his meal. I started to get the feeling we won't even get a half of what was on his plate.

Once outside, we walked around the house. The shed was not seen from the front as it was well hidden behind the house, near the exit to the alley behind the house. It certainly had served it's time. The structure was awry to one side, but the roof, which consisted of shale, was missing some parts. Walls and floor was build out of wood, some of it seemed to be starting to decay. Maybe a fungus was at fault. I could see part of nails show out of the wood. The one small window was shattered, leaving sharp shards in the window frame. The shed doors were from a metal. It was rusty and the corers, which did not sit well in the doorframe, looked sharp enough to get injury.

For a moment, we all just stood in a line, looking at the shed. I for one, wasn't even sure where we should we start. This didn't seem a job I could do, especially without an adult next to me, who could tell me what to do, how to proceed or to simply teach me about safety while doing this sort of work. We weren't even given gloves or any kind of tools to work with.

"Okay. Let's start by cleaning it out first," Kyle said as he walked over to the shed and pulled open the doors. He had trouble pulling them open as the hinges seemed old and not oiled for a long, long time.

There was a lawnmower there, couple of shoves, ropes, saws rake, bigger and smaller hoes, ladders, tools - wrenches, screwdriwers, hammers etc-, watering cans, old scythe, axes, even a pickaxe for some reason, lot of cans, empty milk bottles, dusty containers, large pots, small plastic tubs, pipes, old chairs, carton boxes, old part of engines For all of the stuff, it seems as though there was once a time, when there was garden here. It could be this all belonged to previous owners as I could not picture Kathy or Benjamin as gardeners.

One by one, working together we got all of the stuff out and put it by the house wall. Using some of the tools from the shed, we started to demolish the shed. We started off with the roof. As we worked, our shirts were taken off as it simply was too hot in the Sun. That resulted in couple of scrapes on our torsos and arms. Byron even fell from the ladder. They had seem unstable even before he had gotten on them.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, when we all finally decided to take a small break. We all sat in the shade on the ground. Oliver had ran into the house and got us some water and made us each an sandwich. The food came right on time, my stomach had been growling out loud ever since we started to work on the shed.

"If we want to head out, you know, to the beach or go see a movie…can we?" I wondered, trying to get more insight about how Kathy and Benjamin ran this place.

More than anything I needed to reconnect with Callie. If not my sister then at least with Lena, maybe Stef. The safest bet would be for me to head to the drop-in center. Callie works there and even if she was taken to some other foster home as well, I know she would go back there as well and leave me a message. I assume, Stef had informed Lena about what had happened, but I still had hope, that I could find Lena at the drop-in center on Wednesday, at the time of my tutoring session. At least this first week. Going there this Wednesday, was my best option. I still had to figure out how to get there, but one thing at a time.

"You could simply walk away. It's not like they could catch you," Byron chuckled at the hidden insult to our foster parents

"If you ask them, I doubt they would allow it. You can, like Byron said, simply walk out," Kyle added afterwards "But if Kathy comes out, sees that you are not here…" he inhaled sharply through his gritted teeth and shakes his head while at it "She won't call the cops or anything, but once you get back here be prepared for a yelling match and some hit or slap here or there when she get's her hands on you."

"Have they hit you?" I asked to clarify. Kyle nodded his head, without giving me any more detail, before taking a sip of the water.

I guess, I just have to accept and be prepared for it to happen. It won't be the first time and I'm certainly not going to let fear stop me. I had to be brave.

"Where are you planning on going?" Byron asked me as he took a bite out of his sandwich "You don't have to tell us, but just so you know…no matter what you are planning - we got your back!"

"I need to leave a message for my sister," I replied confidently as I stared back at my new foster brothers

Lena POV

Stef had returned home late that day. It was almost midnight. She had told me they had spent a lot of time in the hospital waiting line. No nurse, no doctor was in any hurry to aid to foster kid, who had hurt her wrist and had few small scrapes. Neither one of the injuries had been severe enough to get them to the front of the line. It turned out to be a sprain. Stef told me they gave her a split to wear for a couple of days and she even bought some ointment that would help with the sprain. Afterwards, Stef and Natalia had taken Callie to her new group home.

From what Stef told me, Callie had closed off. Barely said a word to Stef and give complete silent treatment to her case worker Natalia. I don't blame Callie, I was loss of words as well after Stef informed me about what had happened.

While Callie couldn't believe that she and Jude were separated, I understood why it had happened, but for the love of G-d I couldn't believe how the CPS had handled their case. They should have allowed the kids to say goodbye. In fact, I believe they shouldn't have seperated them at all. They did what was easier for them, not the kids. That's what upset me the most - they way how these kids were treated. Unfairly. Neither Callie nor Jude deserve that, they have been through enough. It's traumatizing. I wondered, how Callie and Jude can go on after being mistreated so many times. In my eyes, these kids were unbelievably strong. They were stronger than me, that much was sure.

I was sitting on the porch in our backyard staring up to the full moon up in the dark sky. The night was quiet. I could hear locusts. My own kids were all up in their rooms. Jesus was probably playing one of his computer games. Brandon must be looking up notes, otherwise I would be hearing him play his piano, but Mariana must be writing a code on her computer or looking up fashion stuff. Stef was looking for me. I heard coming down the stairs.

Soon, I heard her voice "Aren't you coming up to bed?" she asked once appeared in the doorway and stopped there

"Soon," I replied in a quiet and low voice. Sleep was not on my mind at the time. My mind was too occupied with thoughts.

Stef made her way over to me and sat down next to me and pulled me close to her side "What's on your mind?" she asked gently caressing my cheek

I gave her an answer, just by looking at her. She understood me, without me saying a word "I know, I worried about them too." We both averted our eyes down and simply let our thoughts of Callie and Jude roam around around head and sink in.

"I'm thinking of going to the drop-in center tomorrow," I informed Stef, my voice firm as I had made up my mind about it hours ago.

We knew in which group home Callie was, but that was a very small if barely any consolation. There were very strict rules and visitors were only allowed on weekends, if Callie will have earned the right. Stef hadn't gotten any information about where Jude had been taken. If Bill had been still working at the CPS, things would defiantly be more easier. But now, we had no one who we could call friend inside the system and until we get our license renewed, which will only be next week, we have no way of getting any information about Jude's whereabouts. The drop-in center seemed like the only place we could try. I wish, all the stars could align in one row and we could get lucky.

"Lena-" Stef looked at me sadly, knowing what were the chances of me running into Callie or Jude at the drop-in center knowing their current situation

"What if Jude's there?" I leaned slightly away from her and looked to her eyes "What if he's there, looking for Callie or…" I paused for a moment, before adding in whisper "Or us?" Stef let out a sigh and leaned her head back "We have to try Stef! I can't just…" I raised my hand up, before I let it fall down to my upper tight "Sit here and do nothing, while both of them are out there. Alone and probably scared!"

"Okay," Stef nodded after a while, understanding that I was going to do it with or without her approval


	17. Chapter 17

Jude POV

I took off shortly before Benjamin and Kathy's show started. Kathy had just checked up on us, so I knew, this was the safest time frame for me to leave. Neither won't come check on us while their show was on. My foster brothers vowed to have my back as long as they could and I believed them. I trusted them, because I knew we were the same.

Even thought I was well aware neither Kathy nor Benjamin could catch me, I ran for the first 5 blocks to make sure I was safe. Not only that, but also wanted to get to my destination as soon as possible. After the 5th block, I stopped running and started to walk, while breathing heavily to catch my breath. If I could, I would ran further, but I was not athletic enough. I guess I was a sprinter type, not the marathon runner. I was fast on my feet, but only for short distances.

After walking out of the suburbia region, I managed to stop a car. The driver was a woman, so I felt relatively safe that she won't take me to a dark alley and kill me. During the drive we made small talk. I came up with a small lie, that also matched the real reason I was heading that direction. The lie was about how I was going to visit my sister, who was living with our father after our parents got divorced. I actually thought she believed it, mainly because she started to tell me about how parents had split up when she was my age and how it made a huge rift between her family.

Our destination somewhat matched, so the kind woman dropped me off about two miles from the drop-in center, because she was not driving any further. Half a mile (800m) I could walk easily.

The closer I got, the more anxious I became. I wanted to get there as soon as possible, but also feared - what if no one I came to meet was going to show up up. And how long can I afford to wait? Was I going to leave my letter to Callie there, in the hope that she might show up there sometime? There was no plan B. At least there wasn't one at the moment, but I might have to come up with one. And fast.

I arrived at the drop-in center, much faster that I had anticipated that I would, main reason for that was the kind woman who gave me a ride. The clock at the bank, which I had passed a minute ago, showed that it was just little after 6pm. If Callie has kept her job here, she might be still working her shift. Without wasting my precious time, I hurried inside. The doors banged behind me as I did not close them quietly, I let them close by themselves.

Frantically, I started to look around for my sister as I ran in the main hall. My eyes went around the room, searching for my sisters face. After looking around the second time, my shoulders slumped down as I started to give up. There was no sign of Callie. Looking at the front desk, I saw no sign that Callie was here. Usually she has her bag with her, which she leaves by the front desk, but it was not there this time. It all had happened in matter of few short seconds.

In an last effort to find her, I walked towards the back room, hoping that she was hiding in there, doing some work.

"Jude!" I had only taken two steps, when I stopped in my tracks. I had been so occupied by focusing whether or not Callie was here, that I missed another familiar face completely. It was only, when I heard my name being called, that I realized it, who was here instead of my sister. On the side of the room, I saw how Lena stood up.

A wave of relief washed over me and I let out the breath I had been holding. Seeing Lena here was the second best way things could have gone today. I had never been more happy to see her than I am right now. There was still hope.

Without realizing it, I was running over to Lena, to hug her. I practically bumped into her, nearly making Lena loose her footing. She hugged me back just as tight as I was hugging her. I guess, I was not the only one relieved to see a familiar face. Squeezing my eyes shut I fully embraced the love from her. I felt her gently stroke my hair over and over again. I even locked my hands together in hope that she won't ever leave and this hug will last forever. One thing was clear, I needed this hug more than anything right now. Right now, right this moment - I believed that everything will be all right in the end…somehow.

"Are you okay?" She cupped my face fondly in her palms. Her gaze was full of worry as she looked down at me. Her eyes moved up and down, side to side as she looked over my body to make sure I was physically okay.

I nodded my head, while it was still held between her palms "Do you know where's Callie?"

"I do," Lena confirmed "She's in a group home."

"Group home?" I frowned, that did not sound good "Have you seen her…talked to her?"

"Stef was the last to speak to her. It's not that simple, because the group home she's in has very strict rules. Visitation is only allowed on Sundays, if she has earned the right."

Lena took me by my hand and led me over to the couch to sit down. While Lena sat down, I remained standing in front of her, holding on to her hand "I can't sit and chat, I have to get back," I said looking over my shoulder to the exit "Otherwise I'll be in big trouble! I snuck out, my foster parent's don't know I'm here. If they notice I'm gone…" I trailed off, leaving Lena's mind to fill in the gaps

Lena jumped up to her feet after hearing it "I'll take you back. We can talk more on the way."

* * *

During the car ride, Lena filled me in on all they knew about Callie's situation. It wasn't much, but it was enough for now. At least it put my mind at rest a little bit. While group home situation was not ideal, I was confident Callie will manage to get through it. Juvenile detention seemed like a worse place to be, and after learning what Callie did, I was relieved Stef was not pressing charges against her, because that would have placed Callie under arrest for months. Similar, I told Lena all about my new living situation.

Lena parked the car just around the corner of my foster home. Out of their sight, but close enough that I could get there in 20 seconds. It felt a little like I was in some detective/spy/action movie. Every now and then I looked around fearing that my foster parents might see me, even thought I knew it was unlikely scenario. They only left the house to drive to get groceries. Still, sneaking around left me with a feeling that I should constantly check if anyone had noticed me. I was looking over my shoulders constantly.

While we sat in the car, ready to say our goodbyes, we exchanged packages. I handed Lena a letter, I had written for Callie in case they do get to visit her on weekend, but Lena in return gave me an old phone that used to belong to Stef, along with a charger, so we could keep in touch. What made it even more secretive was the way Lena gave me the PIN code to unlock the phone

"It's the date of our first tutoring session," she told me "You remember the date, right?"

I nodded before smiling up to her "I do."

"Okay. Try to keep out of trouble," Lena replied, but then reached over the seats and placed her hand on my cheek. Gazing to my eyes she said "You just need to hold on for couple of more days, you hear me. Stef and I are going to fix this!"

I wanted to ask her "Fix? How? What will happen in few days?" But didn't because she urged me to hurry back, before my foster parents notice that I was gone. After all, their show has almost ended.

Lena kissed my forehead, reminded me that we will keep in touch by phone and said to be careful, before I climbed out of the car and hurried back to my foster home. I stopped once I was by the corner and looked back. Lena was looking right back, waiting for me to get back safely.

I was just by the house, when I saw the front doors opening and Kathy coming out. Looking around for a place to hide, I ran behind their car, that was parked by the front gate. I heard her breathing and her heavy footsepts as she stepped down the porch and made her way around the house, to the backyard were we were assigned to now build a new shed in the same place we demolished the old one.

Once she had her back turned to me, I sneaked back to the house. I paused by the front doors, when I heard Kathy question my foster brothers "Where is the..what's his name…fourth one?"

"He had some kind of stomach ache. Ran to bathroom 5 minutes ago," Byron replied, doing what he told me he would do - have my back. He was probably wishing and praying that I was on my way back, because that alibi he gave me, won't last for long. But luckily, 5 minute alibi was all that I needed right now.

Before I entered, I pressed my ear to the door, to hear what was happening inside. After hearing sounds from TV, I assumed it was safe for me to enter as Benjamin won't notice. Slowly I opened the doors and snuck inside. My foster father was in the living room, snacking on chips and drinking cola. After tip toeing pass the living roo, I made my way to our bedroom and hid the charger and phone in my bag for now. Then, without being heard, I hurried to the bathroom to play along with what Byron told Kathy.

I locked the doors and stood by them, waiting for Kathy to come back in. With my ear to the doors, I waited. In about a minute, I heard the front doors open and her heavy steps lead into the house. That's when I flushed the toilet, opened the sink and rinsed my hands. Unlocking the doors, I stepped out, still acting along and hugging my own stomach as if I in fact indeed had a nasty stomach bug.

Kathy peaked her head out of the kitchen "I'm not cleaning after you! That bathroom better be clean!"

"It's all cleaned up," I answered and made my way back out, to head out to the backyard. Once out on the porch, I let out a breath. Happy that everything went so well today and that I successfully managed to avoid getting in trouble.

"Ah, man!" Bryon sighed in relief seeing me "Glad you are back. Kathy came asking around already."

"I know. I heard. All handled. Thanks for the help," I smiled back at him and picked up the hammer out of Byron's hand "So, what do you need me to do?" I asked, knowing I needed to do my part of the job

Callie POV

It was the visitation day. Not that it mattered. I hadn't earned the right to have visitors over, because I hadn't participated in the group meetings. I had no one to visit me anyway. The only friend I thought I had, stabbed me in my back by making the report. Even if she did show up here, I wouldn't want to talk to her.

While all the other girls were downstairs, talking with their relatives and friends, who came to visit them, I was sitting on my bed, staring out the window. Alone. All I heard was some indistinct chatter and laughter coming from downstairs. I had no desire at all to go join them.

I liked the solitude. I was happy that I finally had a moment of peace and quiet in here. My roommate was a belligerent person. She always found something to bicker, fight, argue, nag me about. There was always something - my bed was not made neat enough, I hadn't done my chore good enough, my part of the room was too messy, my opinion on something was wrong, I breathed too heavy, I was too long in bathroom, I treated person X wrong. Our talks always ended with both of us raising our voices and our mentors seperating us. It was only matter of time before it will get physical. I was happy whenever I got away from her.

Now that I knew she was downstairs, occupied with meeting her family, I knew I can have a moment to myself before she barges in and ruins it. My mind was occupied by all kind of thoughts about Jude. I hoped and prayed they had placed him somewhere safe, with good people. If not good, then at least decent that simply let him be. The problem was, Jude and I were pretty unlucky, when it came to foster parents and basically life in general. Whenever something good came around it was taken from us just as fast. Shattered into million pieces for us to pick up again. I tried to think positive thoughts. I tried to persuade myself, that Jude is old and capable enough to take care of him. He's smart. Unless he goes searching for trouble, like how he went to try on Jim Pearsons ex-wives dress, he should be okay.

Strangely enough, I was also concerned about how dad was doing. He basically left Jude and I to care for ourselves, but still, he had a place in my heart. I worried about him. Maybe even more than I worried about Jude, because to me, Jude seemed more capable of taking care of himself than father. I feared that dads alcoholism had gotten worse ever since we were taken away. What happened to me and Jude - it was a blow to him as well, not just us.

Ever since I got placed here, I keep having this nightmare to which I always wake up at. In the day, I fear that the nightmare is coming to life; that I was going to be called aside by one of my mentors here and told that my father has died of alcohol poisoning.

Another one of my worries is connected to dad and the house. If dad decided to give up the house and moved to a one bedroom apartment, while Jude and I are gone, I will have absolutely no place to go to once I turn 18. He might decide it's too expensive to keep paying for the house, especially, if it's just him living there. If dad backs out of the deal, I will have to live on street. With my birthday just couple of days away, I was scared about my future. I'm sure I can spend couple of days in the drop-in center I used to work, but it's not a permanent solution. Especially, because Jude would still be out there alone.

Looking out of the window, I thought I saw a black SUV drive away. My heart beat faster at the thought. I jumped up to my feet and ran towards the window, to have one last glance at it. From the little I saw, I realized it was not Stef's car. Her's was black, the one that drove away was dark green.

"Why was I-?" I shook my head not understanding why thinking I saw Stef's car got me excited "Stupid me. Stupid!" I walked back to my bed and sat down, with head down and slumped shoulders.

For some reason, yet unknown to me, deep down I wanted to see Stef. It's not to say, I had forgiven her. Not at all. In some wierd way - I missed talking to her. It was easy to talk to her and I miss our chats, even if it was about cocoa.

Stef did remind me of mom. My mom and Stef are in no way similar to each other phyically. There personalities didn't match at all. What they had in common was the fact, whenever around them - I have always felt loved and cared for. The similarities laid in the small gestures here and there - a smile when seeing you, sweet nicknames, gentle touches, soft kisses, tight hugs, the way they made me feel, the sense of trust and security that emitted from them, they both listened to me, like really listened. I felt loved and cared for whenever around Stef, just like with mom. Stef never asked for anything in return. I miss that. I miss us having that relationship before all hell broke loose.

"Callie!" I heard my name being said from the doorway. Recognizing the voice as my mentor, I actually turned around, not wanting to be given any crap about it.

"I have something for you," Rita said moving her hand upwards, reveling an envelop in her hand. That got me curious as I had no idea, what it was about.

"What is it?"

"Don't know, you will have to read it to find out," Rita handed the envelop over to me and left the room.

There was no to or return address on it. The only thing written on it, was my name in black tint pen. So I guessed, someone had brought it over. It was sealed, I had to rip it open to see what was inside. A letter. I recognized the handwriting the moment I set my eyes on it. The letter was not long. My eyes quickly moved over each and every line.

 _ _Callie,__

 _ _don't worry. I'm fine. The house they placed me is not that bad. It's in National City region, E 5__ _ _th__ _ _St 89. The neighborhood could be better, but it's not worse than Chula Vista. I have three foster brothers, they are around my age. We get along great and we look out for each other. So, I'm doing okay. I'm staying out of trouble.__

 _ _I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ms. Stein.__

I paused reading and screwed up my face as I thought to myself "Wait...what? What does she has to do with anything?" Wanting to know the answer to my own question, I resumed reading the next moment

 _ _I should have told you that she was onto us after the infamous school event dad crashed. I'm sorry. Because I kept quiet, what happened was like a sucker punch to you. The only reasons I didn't tell you, was because I don't know what you could have possibly done. And I strongly believed she hadn't made the report to CPS…guess I was wrong.__

I stood up as I had read the last paragraph, not believing my eyes.

Just to make sure, I didn't imagine it, I read the paragraph two more times. At the realization, that Stef hadn't done it and that I had went off on her for no good reason, I looked up from the letter to the window. Never before had I regretted something so bad as I do right now.

"Oh, no! What have I done!" I scolded myself

Stef never said anything to me. There were plenty of opportunities to say something, explain that it wasn't her, but she never did. She allowed me to treat her like crap and she never said anything. I felt so bad about how I had treated her. Now that I know my actions were uncalled for, it felt like I could never forgive myself for it. I felt like a douche.

This also proves that I have serious issues with trusting people and believing them. I was so fast to blame Stef for everything, I never even questioned it. In my head, there was only one explanation - Stef broke my trust. People have played me, toyed with me for years. Each time I got close to someone, each time I had started to feel relatively safe, the trust we had was broken and everything was taken away from me. Now I was the one who destroyed it, because I was afraid Stef would do it for me. But as it turns out, I was wrong. Stef was never out to get me. Her goal wasn't to get close to me and then hurt me. I had imagined it in my head, because of my trust issues.

The rest of the letter could wait. I hurried up to the window, that out looked the street right in front of the house, in hope that whoever dropped the letter off was still there. I scanned the street. There were multiple cars parked by the house. Most of which I had no idea who they belonged to. But one car stood out to me and it made my heart beat a little faster in excitement.

Like a lightning bolt, holding on to the letter in my right, I ran out of the room. Skipping every other step on the stairs, to gain some time, I made my way down the stairs. I needed to get outside, before she decided to leave. Seconds were of essence now.

Without caring about the damn rules, I made b-line to the front doors. Pulled the doors open, ran outside, and jumped down the porch. Then continued to run across the lawn to get close to where her car was parked. An invisible force made me stop, when I reached the pavement.

"Stef!" I shouted while desperately looking at her sitting in the car, hoping she would hear me and won't leave before I get to say just how sorry I was.

I heard my name being called by one of my mentors from the house, but at the same time, I saw how Stef turned her head to look my direction. She heard me, she saw me. A wide smile grew on my face as Stef stepped out of the car and stood in the open car car doors, her right hand rested on the top of the doors.

I knew I was going to be in big trouble, but I also knew, what I was about to do, will be worth it. Even if it will last for couple of second. After quickly checking if no cars were driving down the road, I ran to the other side of the street, and threw myself on her, by wrapping my arms around her shoulder and clinging on to her for dear life.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her over and over again while she held me repeating over and over again to me that there is nothing to forgive and that everything's going to be okay.


	18. Chapter 18

Jude POV

We were sitting on the curb out by the house, watching the cars go by. Kyle was constantly dribbling his basketball, switching his hands constantly, Byron was cleaning behind his nails with the end of a old copper wire he found in the shed, Oliver was once again drawing a picture of a happy stick figure family - father, mother and a little boy, holding hands together with big smiles -, but I was playing with grass straw. After we had finished building the shed, we had nothing left to do. At least Kathy hadn't given any big jobs to us right now. We couldn't watch TV, because our foster parents were always in front of it and we were not allowed to, there were no board games or electronic games, there were no bicycles, we couldn't even throw free throws because there was no basket, there were no books to read, no magazines, we weren't allowed to leave the house premise to go to the park or to swim at the beach, we had no pocket money either, so we couldn't go buy ice cream. It was summer, it was suppose to be time for adventures, trips, playing outside, but we were bored out of our minds. I even wished school would come back, so I would have something to do. Every now and then the desire to study math comes upon me, which had never happened before. Before falling asleep I rehearse all the formulas Lena had taught me in the hopes that I would still remember to use them correctly, when the school starts.

"Get in here! All of you!" We heard a furious Kathy yell from the house.

It appeared, one of us had done something we were not allowed. At this moment, I had no idea what it was. I was pretty sure it wasn't me, so I was wasn't worried or scared, not yet anyways, but that might change soon. The only way, they would be upset with me was if they had found the phone I had hidden. But so far, Kathy hadn't seem like the kind of person to who would want to go through our stuff. She doesn't even clean our room, let alone go through our stuff. Till she is going to explain the reason for all this, I tried not to worry about, what I was hiding from her.

"What does she want now?" Byron mumbled under his nose as we all got up to our feet and walked back into the house.

When we walked inside, we had to follow her to our bedroom and stand by each of our beds. I looked to my foster brothers, trying to see if I was the only one confused by what was happening. Byron and Kyle looked to be just as confused by all of this as I did, but Oliver seemed nervous and scared. Even more so than me. Almost as if he knew, why Kathy had called us all in here and why she was so angry. He barely raised his head up to look up. If I have to guess, I'm going to say we were called in here, because of something he did.

"One of you...broke the rules!" Kathy stood by the doors, her hands on her hips, looking around the four of us "It also seems that, one of you is also a thief! And I do not like thieves!" Oliver needed to work on his poker face, because all I saw on his face now was guilt. It was like he had a stamp pressed on his forehead that said - guilty. But surprisingly, Kathy hadn't noticed it yet.

"I want to know, which one of you did it!" Kathy raised her voice as she started to slowly pace around the room, eyeing all of us closely as she walked by. This was the first time, I felt scared of her. It was because of her eyes.

We all kept mum, but with out eyes, we looked at each other.

Because of the look on Kyle and Byron faces, I was sure, they had noticed the way Oliver was acting. Everyone, but Kathy, had noticed it. Was she really that blind or was she just waiting, giving the guiltily a time to confess, thus either lowering the punishment or, quite the opposite, giving herself a valid excuse to hurt us.

Kathy walked up to me. She stood just inch away from me. I felt her breath on me. It made me scruntch up my nose. Her strong, super sweet, over used perfume tickled my nose, almost made me sneeze. Even thought I hadn't done what she talked about, I held my breath because I was hiding my own secret. As I stood by my bed, I did my best not to even look at the direction I had hidden the phone and did my best not to act as I had something to hide. The phone Lena had given me, was hidden in my pillow case. If she starts to search for whatever Oliver had stolen from them, I might get in trouble as well.

"Well?" I jumped slightly at her sudden loud voice. She yelled almost right into my ear. But I did my best to keep still and not make a single sound. Inside, my heart was racing, pumping the blood was through my veins.

As turned on her feet and walked across the room over to Kyle, I let out the breath I was holding, feeling relieved.

Staring down at Kyle, she said "You are all hooligans, delinquents and liars. Are you cowards as well?" Kyle chose not to respond as well and simply stood still, staring right back at her eyes, till she moved on to Byron.

Unlike me and Kyle, Byron chose difference kind of a approach "But still, we are more decent human beings than you and your fat h-"

Kathy had raised her hand up and slapped Byron across the face, before I even managed to blink my eyes. It was eerily quiet afterwards. I saw a red palm mark on Byron's cheek from across the room. It must sting, but Byron had showed no pain. Byron got his composure back up the next moment as if nothing had happened. A lump had formed in my throat and I swallowed it with some trouble.

"Another word from you again and you will be sitting on dry rice for the next hour!" Kathy threatened with her finger pointed right to Byron's face. But Byron was not afraid of her, if anyting, he seemed pleased with himself for managing to anger Kathy so quickly with just one sentence.

"If no one is going to confess..." Kathy continued moving across the room to Oliver, who still hadn't raised his head up to look her in the eye "I guess, Benny will have to show __the belt__ to all of you!" Oliver was close to breaking down in tears. It seemed as though, he could break any second now, admitting what he did.

"I'm going to start with you!" Kathy put her hand on Oliver's shoulder, he flinched visibly and looked up to her terrified. He was trembling in fear.

"It was me!" I said the same three, small words Callie has said a tenths of times to our foster parents. Despite the fact that I only know him for couple of weeks, I could not bare the thought of them hurting Oliver. Even if it was him, who had done stole from them. I wanted to protect him. Even felt obgliged to protect him. He was the youngest of the four of us.

Kathy took her hand off Oliver's shoulder and turned to me.

"I did it. I stole from you," I repeated. I will never forget the look on Oliver's face at my announcement. He was so relieved , thankful, shocked and filled with remorse all at once. Kyle and Byron looked surprised as well. I had managed to open my mouth before Byron as I was sure he was a moment away from taking the blame himself. They gave me a nod, out of respect and I never felt more sure and proud to do something.

I had no idea what Oliver had stole, but I can only assume it has to be connected to the argument I overheard Oliver and Kathy had couple of days ago. Oliver had requested Kathy to buy him some new crayons as the ones he had been using, were almost over. Kathy had mumbled something along the lines of "Yeah, yeah. Sure, whatever." Thus making Oliver quite happy, believing that she would. But just minutes ago, Oliver was drawing on the pavement with the last crayon he had. It was smaller than the pinkie finger nail. He had trouble keeping it between his fingers. All Oliver had wanted was something to draw with, but despite his request, it seems as though Kathy had not bought them for him. Oliver must have thought that Kathy was hiding them from him and went to search the master bedroom. Only when he hadn't found any, he must have taken something else. Probably, money, because why else would she be so furious with us. It might be, he hadn't taken anything. Oliver might have just left the room messy, suggesting to our foster parents that something was stolen, while in fact it wasn't. I might not even find out the truth till after the punishment.

Kathy came over to me and slapped her hand down on my right shoulder. Her fingers dug into my flesh so hard, it actually hurt. That might even leave a mark.

Despite the pain in my shoulder right now, I knew protecting Oliver was the right thing to do. I felt a sense of calmness inside me because of it. The idea of getting hurt by them, wasn't as scary now compared to how I felt a minute ago. A small sacrifice from me, so that Oliver doesn't get hurt. It felt worth it. Was this how Callie felt all those time she has stood up for me?

"I knew you were trouble, from the moment I met you," Kathy told me before she pushed me towards the hallway

Callie POV

I was put on all the possible chores for the next couple of days- dish duty, making dinner, cleaning, taking garbage out, tend flower beds and doing laundry. Between all of the chores and the group meetings - I didn't have any minute to take a breath. At the end of the day, I was exhausted and the only thing on my mind was sleep.

Personally, I found it funny. I was taken out of my home, away from my family and put in a different home, where I had to do the same tasks I did at my home. And in some weird way, cleaning after 6 other girls my age and maintaining the house that belonged to the state, was okay, but it was not okay if I looked after my brother and sometimes my father. The system just gave me another great reason to hate and despise it.

"Light's out!" I heard our mentor call out as she made her rounds and walked into each room to check up one everyone before bed time

I was already in my PJ's, ready to go to bed, when I noticed that Jude's letter, which I had placed underneath my pillow before going to bathroom, was gone. A slight panic set in. I checked behind my mattress, pulled open all of the drawers on the nightstand and even looked into my bag even though I knew exactly where I had put it. After I had turned my little corner of the room upside down and still hadn't found the letter, I turned to my roommate, who had a mean smirk on her lips, but tried to hide it.

"Give it back!" I stated loud and clear, while still holding on to the pillow case that I had taken off the pillow to make sure my letter was not there. I had read it so many times I already knew it by heart, but still, I needed to have it physically in my hands. Right now, it was the only thigh that I had off Jude.

"Give what back?" She asked back, playing dumb. I could read it from her face, she took it. No one else had this kind of a beef with me. She was out to get me from the first day. This was it. She knew how much the letter meant for me.

"You know damn well what I am talking about! My letter!" I tossed the pillow case down as I stared at her starting to loose my patience with her

"Oh...you mean the letter?" She said before turning a page on her magazine without even a glance my direction

"Yes, hand it over! Now!"

"I don't have it," she replied casually continuing to read the magazine

"Bullshit!" I snapped back and walked around my bed over to hers. I pulled her magazine out of her hand and tossed it away.

"Get your hands off me, you freak!" she slapped my hand away and then swung her legs to get up to her feet on the same side of the bed as I stood. In order for her to get some room to stand in front of me, she pushed me back. I stumbled backwards, but managed to stay on my feet.

I wasn't going to allow her to treat me like this, so I showed her back. It escalated from there on. We were shoving each other, curse words were being said, hair was being pulled, slaps were given, nails were used as weapon, even few punches were thrown. The other girls, who had no idea what was going on, but had heard the commotion had come to watch the show. They stood by the doors. Some of them had actually called encourage words, like "Knock her out! Kick her ass!" though, I was not sure on which side they were on.

Our mentors put a stop to it, by pulling us further away from each other.

"What the hell is going on!" Rita called, her face red and hair slightly messy, she was madly upset with both of us

"She started it! Callie punched me and split my lip-" my roommate pointed to her split lip playing the victim card, I'm not even sure how she had split her lip, for all I know, she could have bitten her lip, because I did not land an hit to her face "She broke the rules, you have to toss her stupid ass out! Send her to juvie or whatever!"

Looking down, I saw that she had ripped my shirt. The sleeve of my left arm was only holding on by couple of threads. There were scratch marks on my inner forearm as well. When I ran my hand over my face to get some of the hair off it that was sticking to it, I got some blood on my fingers as well. Nothing hurt too bad, so I wasn't sure if it even was my blood.

"Back to your rooms! Now!" The other mentor ushered the other girls away, leaving only me, my roommate and our mentor Rita in the room. Michelle, the other mentor came back. Rita and Michelle looked to each other, communicated with only their eyes.

"First, you both need to clean up!" Rita ordered, her tone suggested she was not playing around "Then, we will go downstairs and talk this out!"

"What's to talk! She punched me first!" My roommate cried victim again, while I remained silent and simply followed Rita to the bathroom, while my roommate was accompanied to the other bathroom by Michelle

Once I was in front of the mirror, I looked at my cheek to see if the blood was coming from me. My roommate had managed to scratch my cheek. There were four distinct scratch marks. One nail had dig into my skin so deep that I could see my skin hanging where the scrape ended. Rita helped me clean it, put some ointment on it to help it heal and found the bandage that would fit over the scratches. The ones on my arm were not so bad, skin was not broken, those were just long red marks. Other than that, I had managed to get out relatively unharmed. I assume some bruises are going to appear later on, but that's to be expected after a fight.

After we were both cleaned up, we went down to the living room. For a while, our mentors left us alone in the living room. My roommate and I simply sat glaring at each other from the opposite side of the room, without saying anything. I heard our mentors whispering in the next room, probability discussing what had happened and how to deal with us. It didn't bother me to wait. The last thing that I wanted was to sleep in the same room as her.

Once they came back, they gave us each an opportunity to explain what happened, to tell our side of the story. When I mentioned my letter being stolen, Rita gave a nod to Michelle to go investigate. She disappeared from the room, leaving my roommate to be a bundle of nerves. Michelle didn't come back for some good 15 minutes at least, but once she did, she came holding my letter in her hand.

"Where was it?" Rita wondered

"Hidden under Nora's mattress!" Michelle reported, but still held on the letter

"She probably put it there so she would have an excuse to hit me!" my roommate defended herself by making up another lie. I rolled my eyes at it.

Thankfully, Rita was done with her bullshit as well "I have heard enough of lies from you!" Rita replied to Nora in a firm voice "Stealing is unacceptable!" Rita paused briefly before she continued glancing towards me "As is violence!"

"What are you going to do with us?" I asked, worried about my fate. I was well aware that the main issue was who starting a fight. Almost each group session we are told to resolve conflict with conversation and never violence. It was the day before my birthday. All I needed was to make through the night. Getting in trouble now was the worst possible outcome and may as well ruin my chances of freedom and going back home.

"Michelle, go call the others. We are going to have a meeting!"

Stef POV

My eyes snapped open at the sound of my phone vibrating on the nightstand along with loud melody playing. It scared me all the time. Even in the morning, when my alarm went off. But obviously, this was not the alarm, this was someone calling me, because it was dark outside and Lena was still sound asleep next to me. She did stir as the phone kept making noise.

The phone emitted such a bright light that I hat to squint my eyes. I reached for my phone and looked at the screen - _unknown number_ \- it could be anyone. I cleared my throat, in the effort to try and sound as awake and alert as I could, but still I sounded hoarse "Hello?"

"Stef. It's me."

"Callie?" I sat up some more

"Yeah. I'm sorry I'm bothering you this late, but I had nobody else to call."

"Don't worry about it," I assured her while I took the blanket off me and swung my legs over the bed side "What's going on? Are you okay? Who's phone are you calling from?" I had many questions running through my mind despite the fact that it was the middle of the night

"Can you come pick me up?"


	19. Chapter 19

Stef POV

As I turned off the engine, I looked around the block. The group home Callie was currently staying at was the only house that had lights on.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I had no idea, what made Callie call me this late in the night. I was glad she was still here and hadn't run off. The thought alone, that Callie could be wandering the streets at night, made me feel incredibly restless and worried. There are so many bad people out at night, that I don't want Callie ever to cross path with. Her life has been hard enough, I don't want a mugging or assault to be added to the list of bad stuff that had happened to her.

Sitting in the car, I still couldn't understand what was happening. The unknown number she called me from made me wonder if Callie had stolen the phone from one of her mentors to call me or if the phone was given to her to call me. I doubt Callie was being tossed out of the house in the middle of the night. That seemed incredibly ruthless on the part of the system. If she had gotten in trouble, they would most likely be calling the cops or taking her straight to Juvie. I simply couldn't figure it out. It could be I was missing some crucial information to connect the dots in my head.

The doors to the group home were opened up as I was walking up the porch. Callie's mentor Rita met me in the doorway "Stefanie, if I remember correctly?" I got the feeling she was well aware that I was coming and my presence here at this hour was no surprise to her. In fact, she even seemed happy to see me.

"Yes, hi!" I shook her hand before she gestured me to come inside.

The last time I was here, I wasn't allowed to come inside. All I did, was have a small chat out on the porch with Rita, before handing her the letter addressed to Callie and then left. She seemed much more nicer now, compared to the first time I met her. I knew they had rules here and they had to follow them, so I wasn't holding it against her. She did what she had to. I respected her for that.

We remained standing in the hallway.

Now that I'm inside, I was pleasantly surprised by how well kept the house was. Everything was clean and well organized. From what little I saw, the rooms had a nice planning, they had a lot of open space. On my left was what looked like living room, on my right I saw kitchen. Stairs were right behind my back, but the hallway led pass the stairs to some other rooms as well, which were left a mystery to me. I was assuming the bedrooms were upstairs.

I heard footsteps right above my head, so I looked up to the ceiling, even though I was well aware, I won't see anything. They were light and quick, as if someone hurried to get something from the other side of the room. It must be Callie, who was walking around upstairs. I doubt the mentors would allow the other girls to be up so late in the night.

While jiggling my car keys in my hands, I returned my gaze back to Rita "Uh, Callie called me. Asked me to come pick her up."

"Yes, I know," Rita nodded, putting at rest the thought that Callie might have gotten a hold of the phone illegally

"What's going on?" I questioned gingerly, desperately wanting to get some answers

"Callie got into an altercation with her roommate, it got pretty violent," Rita explained without going into much more detail. I hoped she had another reason for telling me this than to simply worry me.

"Are you throwing her out?"

"No, not at all!" Rita quickly replied, raising her right hand up briefly to stop that thought "I actually told her she could stay."

I frowned my forehead up in confusion, Rita saw it and continued to explain to me "After the incident we all - me, the other mentor Michelle, all the girls, Callie included - had a meeting and we talked it all out. Had an open discussion about what had happened. At the end of the said meeting, Callie expressed her wish to leave."

"Leave?" the word repeated in my head, making me get even more confused than I already was as I continued to listen to Rita

"Callie does not want my help in the transition out of foster care, nor does she want to stay here any longer, especially after what happened. And honestly, I don't blame her. She was brought here because she had no were else to go after the CPS inspection on her home. Compared to other girls - Callie is like a saint if you look at her file. This is a house for troubled teenage girls. The last resort for them. Callie does not belong here and she knows it. Technically, she's no longer a ward of state and she's allowed to leave, whenever she likes."

"Wait..." I took a small step back and raised my hand up to stop Rita as the words hit me "It's her 18th birthday today?"

Rite nodded and smiled at me, but then once again continued to speak in a serious manner "I cannot allow Callie to leave in the middle of the night in a good conscience," she said putting her hand on her heart making me believe she truly cared for the girls that were under her roof "The only way I could allow her to leave, is if I know, she has someplace safe sleep tonight. That's when she mentioned you!" Rita gestured both of her hands to me and smiled warmly again "Would you be willing to take her in for tonight and possibly a bit longer till she-"

"Stef!" I heard Callie call my name. I looked up and behind and found Callie standing at the top of the stairs. Her right hand was on the banister, but her left, was holding a backpack that seemed to be stuffed full. Callie hurried down the stairs towards me.

"Hey, love!" I smiled bright as she stopped right in front of me. Only now I saw the bandage on her cheek. I raised my hand up and gently moved my thumb at the side of the bandage "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing serious, just a cat fight," Callie said jokingly, but from what Rita told me, the fight sounded much more serious than that "So?" Callie looked between me and her mentor, wondering what the verdict was

Rita glanced to me asking me with her eyes, what my answer was going to be. I reached down to Callie's bag and took it out of her hand. The answer came easily to me "I will text Lena to make up the couch for you!"

Callie POV

We had driven for only couple of seconds and still were on the same street the Girls United house was, when I spoke up "Thank you for coming to pick me up. I would have called my dad, but..." I tilted my head down, looked at my hands and admitted timidly "He doesn't have a car and even if I had called him, I doubt he would come get me in the middle of the night."

"I've told you multiple times you can call me anytime," Stef said with her eyes on the street, but then briefly glanced to me and added with a smile on her lips "I'm glad you did."

All I wanted, when I made the call, was for someone to take me away from the group home. I hadn't expected this to happen. My plan was for her to offer a ride back to my home, from which I was taken away from, and then she could be on the way. That's all I ever wanted. After all, the only reason Rita had stopped me from leaving after the meeting was because she did not like the fact that I would walk there at this time of day. I had thought with Stef being a cop, she would agreed to give a lift, much like she has done before.

I never actually thought Stef would offer her home to me, knowing she has her own kids to think about. Now I felt slightly uncomfortable about it. The occasional chats with her, exchanging messages every now and then, bringing over cocoa - those were all small acts of kindness from her. Offering her home to me, seemed too much. I certainly don't deserve it, especially after how I treated her a while back. She may have forgiven me for it, but I haven't forgiven myself. The worst part is, I would be living there as a parasite. Living off them, because they won't even get money for allowing me to stay there.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and blurt out, before I lost the courage to speak up about it at all "You don't have to take me in. I know Rita kind of ambushed you about it," I chuckled, not sure why, because it sure as hell wasn't funny. Stef gave me a look, but quickly averted her eyes back to the road. I could tell she was not expecting this sort of conversation with me, nor was she liking the direction I was taking it.

I forced the awkward smile off my face and cleared my throat "I know you agreed, but you don't have to," I said wanting to give her a chance to back out of the deal "The last thing that I want is to be a burden to you and your family. I can go back home, I have my key in my bag," I picked my bag up from the floor and patted my hand on the outer pocket of the bag, where the key was

"Maybe dad will actually be excited to see me," A humorless chuckle escaped my mouth. Stef did not found it funny as well. In fact, I think she even hated the fact that in the joke was hidden the fact that my father might not even want anything to do with his children. Tilting my head down, I started to nib on my own lip. I'm not sure why I said it, when I actually don't think it's true.

The car slowed down a little, but I had a feeling Stef had no intention of stopping or changing the course "Callie," she said slowly, I saw her ease the grip of the steering wheel, she even leaned a bit more back into the chair "I'm taking you back to my place. Like you said, I agreed to it. And no, I did not feel ambushed or forced to agreed to it. I agreed, because I care about you. A lot. If you don't know it already. You won't be a burden, you are never a burden."

Stef detained a little pause letting the words sink in "You can stay with us as long as you need. Days, weeks, months. I know a couch doesn't sound like much, but...you're going to be safe there," She glanced to me and added with a smirk "Besides, it's super comfortable couch!"

I gazed at her for a moment simply for the fact that it felt like she was hiding something from me. I wasn't sure if it was my own insecurities and trust issues or was I actually on to something. It felt like she wasn't telling me something. Not lying, just not telling me something. This was not the first time, I could be jumping to conclusions, wrong ones at that, so instead of wrecking my brain about it for the rest of the night I asked her "What aren't you telling me?"

"What?" Stef asked, trying to avoid the question by pretending she didn't hear me. I knew it was an act. She didn't want to answer me, which only meant that I was on to something. There was, indeed, something she was hiding from me.

"I feel like you are not telling me something. What is it? Is it about Jude? Did something happen to him?"

"Jude is fine!" Stef said trying to reassure me "Lena messaged with him to day, he told us he's doing okay and that he misses you."

"Then what? " I turned to her in the seat as I felt the conversation getting more intense

"Callie," Stef shook her head as she sighted "Now is really not the time, nor the place for us to have that conversation..." Stef once again tried to avoid it, but I wasn't going to back down. Now that I knew for sure, that there was something she was not telling me, quite possibly about me or my family, I won't be able to calm down.

"Now is the perfect time" I pressed on

"It's late. We are both tired," Stef reasoned further

"Stef! Whatever it is, please, just tell me. Please!" I ended up pleading with her. She was not the only one who could be stubborn.

Stef heard the desperate tone in my voice and briefly averted her eyes to me. I believe she caved in, once she saw just how much in great need for answer I saw. Looking back out to the street, Stef took a deep and long breath and exhaled it in similar manner. I was preparing myself for the news. My fingers even dug into the seat and with my right I was holding on to the seat belt.

"Your, uh, your father stopped paying the mortgage on the house. He moved out. The house is up for sale."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:Beware - personal opinion in the note below.  
**

 **So, as it turned out - I made a horrible mistake last week. I had free time, so I figured I would give the Fosters show another shot. Let me say this - I had no expectation what-so-ever. NONE. Yet still, I was beyond dissapointed in the show. I don't recognize it anymore. The Fosters that I love and care about is gone. The kids - the mother F &*~!ing kids...OH MY GOD...STOP! The season 5 sucked all my inspiration and love for the show. That's why the late update. I did what I could with the little inspiration I got today after watching the newest Game of Thrones.**

Stef POV

Callie stammered "How…how do you know that?"

After letting out a soft sigh, I briefly gazed to her "I went to see your dad three days after you were taken away."

I stepped out of my car and walked up to the brand new sign in front of the Jacob house.

 _ _For sale__

For a while, I stood in front of the sign, starting at it as I simply couldn't believe my eyes what Donald had done.

Wanting to get a closer look at the house, I walked up to the front porch. Tried the doors - locked. I took a step aside, pressed my hands and forehead to the window to try and see inside. Looked like all of the furniture was still there.

I walked around the house and looked into each window. From what little I saw, it seemed like the house was cleaned, probably because it was for sale, but Donald hadn't taken any furniture with him. All the beds were there, all the wardrobes of which I knew, all chairs in kitchen, the couch was there, as was the TV.

When I was taking another peak inside the living room, I heard a car pull up behind mine. Not wanting to appear as if I was breaking in, I started to walk back to my car . A young couple and what looked to be a real estate agent stepped out. The real estate agent started to talk about the house the moment they laid their eyes on it.

"Very compact house. And one of the cheapest on the list we are seeing today. As you can see, it's located in a quiet, small neighborhood. The house has three bedrooms, one bathroom, living room and kitchen. No garage, basement."

"This looks cozy," the woman commented as she looked at the house "Can we see inside?"

"Sure. I have the keys!" The real estate agent found the right key

"It's also fully furnished, because the family moved away in the hurry, leaving everything behind," The real estate agent lied to the couple as they walked towards the house. Moved away sounded much better than the truth. Not that the reason of the previous family moving out would affect the new owners choice. Without saying anything, I walked pass them.

When I got back into the car, I drove to the only known place to me, where Donald could be at this hour - his work. If he hadn't completely lost all of his senses he might still be there, because he still has to earn money. From what Callie told me, one thing Donald was truly good at was fixing cars. To Callie's knowledge, he had never complained about his job once. Despite his bad habit, he has never been late to his job as well. Staying late never had seemed to bother him as well. The way Callie described it, made it seem like his work might have been more important that his kids.

A car drove away from the repair shop just as I pulled up. It certainly wasn't the fanciest place. There were lot of car parts out front, stacks of old tires, cars without engines, piles of bumpers and headlights. Looked to be quite cheep compared to the places that are found closer to the city center. But despite the way it looked, I knew not to judge this place from the looks. Often the men who repair cars in these shops do better job than the ones who ask twice the money from you in the expensive places.

"Can I help you?" A man in dark blue jumpsuit called while cleaning his hands in a towel, which already looked to be dirty with oil

"I'm looking for Donald Jacob."

"Inside!" The man pointed into the garage

I waved at him, saying thanks, and made my way into the garage. Inside the garage I counted at least half a dozen of workers. There were 4 cars parked inside the garage. A black Audi was having it's tires changed, rust was being removed from an bright blue Mazda3, a red Ford was lifted up and two men were working underneath it, but at the far right a grey Volkswagen had it's hood raised up and Donald was sitting behind the wheel, trying to start up the car. The engine was dry spinning around, but it did not start.

Donald got out of the car and walked back to the engine, pressed his hands at the side of the car and looked down to the engine. He was wearing the same kind of dark blue jumpsuit as the rest of the men, who worked here. His hands were dirty black. He even had a smear across his head. At least he seemed to be working hard at work.

"Donald Jacob?" I approached him slowly

He looked up and watched me, walking closer. I could tell he did not recognize me at first "Yeah?" When I was up to him, he lightly tilted his head sideways as he looked at me, but finally asked "Do I know you?"

"You really don't remember me?" I wondered, not believing that he doesn't remembered me from three days ago when the CPS took his kids away.

He looked me up and down, took a towel from one of the red toolbox that was behind him started to clean his hands "Sorry, no."

"Stefanie Adams Foster, I'm a friend of your kids," I introduced myself without the usual handshake, his hands looked too oily and dirt.

"Really? I've never heard them mention you," Donald said while continuing cleaning his hands in the towel. Hearing him say that, wasn't that much of a surprise. Because the way Donald had been acting these last couple of weeks, they had no reason to mention my name to him. He wasn't listening to them anyways, so why waste their breath?

I decided to be quite blunt afterwards "I was holding your wife's hand, when she died. I comforted your kids after I broke the news to them of their moms death and your arrest. I helped Callie bail you out of jail after you got drunk and me and my partner arrested you for public urination among other things. Your kids called me late at night to ask for help getting your drunk ass home after you showed up to their school even drunk and made a fool of yourself. And three days ago, when your kids were taken away from you, from their home - I was there as well. You were drinking in the kitchen, last I saw you, like the pathetic man you are!"

Donald became pale as a sheet. He averted his gaze down in shame. A moment later he scratched his eyebrow and raised his head up slowly to look me in the eye "What do you want? "

"I went by your house," I slid my hands in my pants pocket "Wanted to talk to you about your kids. About what you were planning to do next. You got them back once before, so I thought... " I shrugged my shoulders no longer sure what I was thinking because Donald started to seem like a lost cause

"I thought- " pulling my hands out of the pockets I started to gesture with my hands to get my point across as I started to stammer "- you know, you would get your act together once again to try and get your kids back. That you would learn from your mistakes from the first time around, kick the bad habit that is slowly, but surely taking over your life and try to be a better father and parent - one that your kids so desperately need you to be, but... " sighting I let my arms fall down to my sides "-but I guess that was not your plan, because I just found out that you moved out and the house was up for sale."

In a search for an answer, I took a step closer to him as I asked "Are you really not going to fight for them?"

"I tried," Donald said placing the towel back on the tool box, but taking a screwdriver instead. Now holding it between his hands he added "Colleen was the one who raised them. Not me. I tried...I really tried, but I can't do it. It was hard enough being on my own after being incarcerated for four year. I thought it would get easier, once I get them back. We would be happy, because we would be together. You know, I thought things would get back to the way they used to be, before their mom died. But it never did. They had changed so much, I barely recognized them. And prison changed me as well."

Donald let out a long breath before continuing "There was always something with them. If I wasn't going to teacher-parent conference where I was told each time just how much Jude was behind and failing his classes and learning that Callie wasn't fitting in with the rest of the class, I was doing everything around the goddamn house or making appointments with dentists and therapists and PO's. There was never a minute I could just…be me. It never ended!"

"What you just described - being there for your kids - that s what called being a parent!" I snapped at him

"It was too much, too hard, too overwhelming."

"You got tiered, so you left all of that for Callie to handle," I concluded

"Callie's better at it than me anyway! " Donald reasoned "At everything!"

"She's a kid!" I barked at him loosing my patient with him "Your kid! You neglected them...both of them!" I had risen my voice so loud that the rest of the people at the garage stopped what they were doing and looked at me "Because of you, they are out there alone and scared!"

"Sometimes letting go is the only way you can help someone you love."

"Not like this! Never like this!" I stated in a loud voice as I pointed my finger down to the ground between us

"They are better off without me.," Donald replied slowly shaking his head

"So you are…what?" I threw my arms up as it helped me express my emotions better "Just giving up on them? Leaving them up to their fate?"

Donald chose silence as his answer, letting it speak for his actions instead of words.

"If you're not going to fight for them- I will! " I pressed my finger to my chest as I announced it "You know why? Because they are worth it!" With that I turned around and walked away

"Callie?" I asked, my voice full of worry as I saw Callie speechless lean back into the seat, shock and betrayal written all over her face. She looked calm and cold, like a part of her had died inside.

"Just…drive, please," she said quietly, while gazing out of the cars side window. The ride back to our house was eery quiet. Not knowing what to say to the girl, I had remained quiet, allowing her to quietly process what she had learned about her father.

At the house, Lena met her on the porch. My wife noticed that that something was wrong right away. She gave me a look, asking for explanation. I shook my head, letting her know that I will tell her everything once we will be alone. Lena led Callie to the couch and told her to feel at home. After that Lena made sure Callie's was settled, wished good nights sleep and went upstairs, giving me one last minute alone with the girl, before I go up as well.

"I'm here if you want to talk," I offered as I took the step down into living room, slowly approaching her. Callie was now sat on the couch in her pajama pants and simple t-shirt, her bare feet on ground, but the corner of her blanket in her lap. She was staring to the coffee table blankly. I could tell the girl was not really here, present, she was deep in her thoughts.

"No, I'm…I'm okay," Callie replied weakly as she turned to look up at me. She was not okay, not even the slightest. Callie was shattered and I felt responsible for it. "I'm tiered…I just want to go to bed."

"Of course," I nodded totally understanding her wish to be alone right now and rest "We can talk in the morning."

I made my way up to her and kissed the top of her head as a good nights kiss "Lay down. I will turn the light off."

Callie did that just. She laid on her left side, her face turning the couch and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Goodnight, love!" I whispered before I turned the lamp off and went upstairs to sleep myself.

Callie POV

After crying myself to sleep last night, in the morning, little before 9 AM, I was woken up by Lena. I can't recall the last time I was woken up in such sweet and calm manner. There was the smell of coffee in the air and something smelled delicious. When I had started to make the bed, Lena stopped me, telling me she got it and that I should go to the kitchen to meet the others and have breakfast.

In the kitchen, Stef introduced me to their three kids. It came to me as a surprise to learn that two of their kids were adopted, though, after some thinking about it, I realized that I probably simply had ignored all of the signs that suggested it, because I was too busy with my own life to think about someone else. They all looked me up and down, I could tell they didn't trust me, not one bit. Not that I blame them, I wouldn't trust myself as well. Still can't believe that Stef and Lena do trust me enough to let me stay here. The kids were wary of me at first. But despite it, they seemed quite welcoming.

Brandon was kind enough to place pancakes on my plate and handed me syrup to put on top.

Jesus had expressed his though about foster care, that, as it turned out, we both shared.

But Mariana had started a small-talk with me, to avoid the awkward silence "I like your earrings. Especially the ones up here," she said, touching her upper ear the same place I had earrings

"Thanks," I replied gingerly touching my own ear "I'm thinking of getting a new one, in my tragus."

Mariana tilted her head, squinted her eyes a little, but then answered "I think it would look good on you! It would suit your…fierce…presence!"

No one had called me fierce before. Not knowing how to respond to the compliment, I smiled and averted my look down. When I picked up the fork and knife next to my plate, the door bell rang. Looking up, I noticed that Stef was not at all surprised by the visitor at this hour.

"I got it," Lena called from the living room, but despite it, Stef headed to the hallway as well.

Thinking nothing much of it, I turned the plate, as I had eyed the part of the pancake I was about to start. My knife and fork had barely touched the food, when something from the hallway caught my attention. Hearing that someone from the CPS was here, I froze momentarily in fear, forgetting that I was no longer ward of state.

I lowered the tableware down to the plate and got up from the stool, wanting to go find out what was happening.

"Hey, it's okay!" Brandon told me, when I had placed one foot down, my hands pressing to the side of the table.

I stared at him in disbelief, but then remembered he had no idea what it's like. He had no idea how much I fear the CPS. Still. Whenever they come, something bad happens. They are like the Dementors from Harry Potter, by drawing happiness, peace and hope all around them.

"Nothing is ever okay, when they are here!" I whispered angrily at him, not being able to contain myself, as I pointed towards the hallway

Brandon raised his hands up as in defeat and replied calmly "They are here for a home inspection. That's it," he explained

I glanced towards the two adopted kids, they seemed to be just as calm as their brother. Right, I forgot, they had been adopted more than 7 years ago. They have forgotten how it feel. They have a forever family. Just because we are the same in some parts, doesn't mean they have the same bad experience like me. For all I know, this could have been the first and last foster home they have ever been in.

"Moms are renewing their foster license," Mariana explained to me while looking at me "To get your brother!"


	21. Chapter 21

Jude POV

I was laying on my stomach on the bed, the pillow squished underneath my head. It was too painful to sit or to just walk around. The welts on my upper thighs and bottom hurt. It felt as though pants were too heavy and pressed on the skin too hard where the belt had left it's marks. Sleeping helps, it's the only time I forget about the pain. The dreams allow me to live in a world where Callie and I together, our mom is alive, and dad isn't an alcoholic, and everyone is happy.

Hearing the light and fast footsteps that belonged to Oliver coming down the hallway, I raised my head up and looked at the doors. Oliver stopped at the doorway. His fingers fidgeted. He couldn't look me in the eye for too long.

"Do you need anything?" He asked, still full of remorse even after we had talked about it. Oliver still felt very much guilty about what had happened. We talked about it, I told him he doesn't need to apologize, I told him that I cared about him and I would do it again if it came to it, I told him it was okay, we hugged it out, he cried on my shoulder, I consoled him, but still, the young boy wasn't convinced that I didn't hold a grudge against him for what happened. He comes to check up on me almost hourly.

"I'm okay," I assured him with a small smile "You can go back outside and play." With play I mean sit on the porch and stare at the street, watching other people live their lives.

"You sure?" he stammered back

"Yeah, I'm…I'm good," I replied "Thanks for checking up on me." If it was Callie in my position, but I was in Oliver's, this would be the time, when I would crawl up on the bed next to Callie, lay beside her and cuddle with her for couple of minutes. Sometimes we would fall asleep next to each other in each others embrace and comfort.

Oliver quickly hurried towards me and gave me a quick, one sided, slightly awkard hug before telling me again "I'm sorry." I patted his forearm gently before giving it a soft squeeze, telling him again, that's okay. After the hug, Oliver hurried out of the room.

Once he left, I reached for my phone Lena had given me, which I had hid in my pillow case. Holding it in my right, I opened the messages. While my eyes were on the screen, I was listening closely to everything that happened around me. If I heard any noise that would suggest someone was coming inside the room, I would hide the phone in my pillow case.

Reading the small, sweet messages Lena or Stef had sent me made me forget that I was in pain. In fact, reading those messages made me smile. I hadn't received one today, which made me a little bit sad and for a brief moment, I wondered if Lena grew tired of it.

My trail of thoughts were interrupted by a knocking sound on the front doors. What followed were some annoyed mumbles coming from the living room, where Kathy and Benjammin were. Not wanting to risk it, I hit the phone in the pillow case and laid my head down on the pillow, face turned away from the doors. With one ear, I continued to listen to the indistinct chatter, while I stared at the closest wall. I couldn't understand what was going on, but it sounded as if one party was not happy about what was happening. I closed my eyes once I heard footsteps coming towards the room. It felt safer to pretend that I was asleep.

I heard a soft knock on the doors, even though they were left open by Oliver once he left. Neither Kathy, nor Benjammin ever knocked, they barged in, but Byron, Kyle and Oliver had no reason to knock, it was their room as well.

My body was stiff, I held my breath and my eyes were squeezed shut as I listened to someone walking up to my room. The bed shifted, when the person sat down on the side of the bed making the bed shift slightly.

"Jude," I heard a whisper, but then a hand stroked my hair gently

It can't be - I thought to myself before my eyes snapped open. I turned my head to the other side as I pressed up from the bed with my hands.

"Lena?" I asked in disbelief, not believing my eyes. Lena being here seemed more likely to happen in a dream, not in real life.

"Hey," she placed her arm on my upper arm and softly ran it down then back up

I wrapped my arms around her neck. Lena's wild, curly hair tickled my neck. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fully embraced the hug. It was only when I leaned out of the hug, I noticed Stef standing in the doorway, smiling at us.

"What are you doing here?" I asked looking back at Lena

Lena placed her palm on my cheek "We're taking you to our home…your new home."

Callie POV

I was sitting on the bench out on the front porch. Waiting. Staring at the street. Listening to the life around me - birds, cars, wind, faint chatter, cats meowing from the alley behind the house. Counting the cars that go by. Watching how the clouds change forms. Thinking up a life story for the people, who walk by the house. Nursing the now empty cup of coffee in my hands, because I was afraid if I go back in the house, I would miss Jude. And I did not want to miss Jude.

Stef and Lena were gone for a very long time. It seemed strange, because whenever I think back to the time when we were in foster care and being relocated to a new foster home, it usually didn't take up much time. Our case worker came, not more than 10 minutes were spent on packing and then we were off. No time was spent on goodbye's. Case worker was not there to chit chat over tea. They had a job to do and they all wanted to get it done was fast as possible, because they have 50 other cases on their hands that they need to deal with.

When the black SUV appeared on the street, I stood up, setting the coffee cup down on the bench for now. Lena smiled at me through the window as the car pulled up in the driveway. By the time the engine stopped completely, I was already walking down the stairs on the porch. Lena climbed out. Stef climbed out. Only then the back doors of the driver side opened up.

I was standing in the middle of the lawn, when Jude finally walked around the back of the car. My brain started to put the things that I saw together, piece by piece. He seemed slow. I know him…I know his smile. Jude's smile hid pain. I noticed him wince in pain with each step he took. Lena and Stef's worried look didn't go unnoticed as well. Stef was carrying his bag. Jude was hurt. They hurt him.

But whatever had happened to him, could wait. It can wait till he gets in the house. It can wait till after the hug.

Instead of waiting meeting in the half way, I hurried to him. Pulling him in a tight hug, wrapping my arms around him, while he buried his head in my shoulder. It was a long hug. Neither one wanted to let go. Words could not describe how happy I was to have my brother back.

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning out of the hug, cupping his cheeks with my hands, gazing deep into his eyes. We stood so close, our forehead nearly touched.

Jude nodded as he put his hands on my upper arms "I will be."

With tears in my eyes, I pulled him towards me once again. Jude held on to me, his arms around my waist. One of my hand was wrapped around his shoulder, with other I stroking his hair as he rested his head on my shoulder again.

* * *

I was watching him sleep from the doorway, thinking about what he told me had happened to him. The worst part was that I remember exactly what the pain from a belt felt like. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I know, how the welts on his body look without him showing them to me, because I have had the same exact welts. I know how they look, I know how sensitive the skin is to touch. My blood boiled in anger for what Jude had to go through.

I was angry at the foster parents, who did it.

I was angry at the foster kid, who Jude had to protect.

I was angry at his other foster brothers, who let it happen.

I was angry at the CPS, for putting him there.

I was angry at our father, who is the main reason he was even there.

I was angry at Stef and Lena, for not getting him out of there in time.

I was angry at the universe, because it is not fair that we were dealt this kind of life.

But mostly, I was angry at myself, because I wasn't there to protect him.

For years, I was protecting him from that kind of stuff. Doing everything in my power so he doesn't have to experience physical abuse. And now, now he went and protected his younger foster brother. Someone, who he barely knew. It feels as if, all that I did - I did for nothing. Because in the end, Jude got hurt and I was not there.

What he did was right, it was courageous. It was also stupid, incredibly stupid and I hated that he put his neck on the line in order to protect his younger forester brother. But I was so damn proud of what he did, so I could not possibly stay upset about it for long.

It felt as if he had grown up and graduated from being a child.

I closed the bedroom doors and walked down to the living room. Stef and Lena were watching the news. Jesus was there as well, but unlike his moms, he was busy with his phone. He was texting someone constantly. I kind of felt bad for him, because he was the one who had to share his room with Jude. He didn't seem to mind now, but I had a feeling he was not so supporting when his moms talked to him about it the first time.

"I'm going to go for a walk," I let Stef and Lena know, before walking over to the hallway to get my shoes

"Going anywhere specific?" Stef asked, when she appeared in the doorway the next moment

"Just around the block. I need to clear my head." I replied slipping my right foot into my sneaker

"Do you want company?" Stef offered, I could tell she was ready to go if I agree

"No, thanks. I kind of want to be alone for a while." I answered standing up tall

"Okay,' she nodded "But don't stay out too long, okay? It's starting to get dark." The worry in her voice did not go unnoticed by me

"Sure," I smiled back, at this point, I had no intention of wandering the streets for long. I simply wanted to stretch my legs, breath the fresh air, clear my thoughts. That's the reason I had left my phone in the house. All I wanted was to be alone for a while. These last few days have been a lot to handle, so much happened. I needed time to process it.

But somehow, I ended up standing in front of my childhood home just shortly after it had gotten dark. Knowing that the front doors were locked, I made my way around the house. My bedroom window was at the right side of the house, same was the window in Jude's room, facing the neighbors house on the right.

I pressed my hands and forehead to Jude's window. If I concentrated hard enough and squinted my eyes just the right way, I could tell things apart in Jude's room. His bed, the desk, pile of comics that stood on the floor. A moment later, I moved on to the window to my room. I peaked in the same with I did with Jude's room.

I needed to get inside there. I wanted to grab some more stuff from my and Jude's room.

I took a step back and looked around the yard, looking for something I could break the window in my room. My eyes stopped at the silly garden gnome by the flower bed. Dad bought it, after I won't stop talking about it while we were in the store. Mom found a place for it, next to the flower bed she had just made. The Sun had drained colour from it. It used to have red hat, blue shirt and green pants, but now it was all white-ish, grey-ish. Neighborhood dogs pee on it, birds sit on it, it has been kicked over multiple times.

Figuring the gnome would do the trick, I went to pick it up.

Walking back up to the window, I took off my sweater with the thought that if I press the fabric to the window, when I smash it with the gnome, it would make less noise and not alert as much unwanted attention. I wouldn't call this breaking in, because this was my home, but still, other people might seem to think different. Especially cops. So I wanted to avoid getting caught.

With the sweater in one hand, gnome in other, I took a step closer to the window, getting ready. I glanced to the street and the homes near by to see if anyone is there. When I was convinced that no one was looking, I pressed the sweater to the window.

I took a deep breath in, trying to calm down my fast beating heart.

To balance myself better, I moved my left leg slightly in front of my right.

Raised my hand up and moved my arm back, ready to swing the gnome at the window.

Turned my head a bit away from the window, worried that shards of glass might hurt me.

And held my breath as I was about to do it.

But my blood ran cold at the sudden noise just by the house. Someone was there! I'm going to get caught.

"Run! Run you fool!" My brain was yelling at me, but I was frozen completely out of fear "At least drop the fucking gnome, you idiot!" But all I managed to do, was lower the gnome down and keep it hidden behind my leg

When I heard someone angrily smacking against the front doors repeatedly with a palm, the fear started to fade slowly. Like the dumb characters in all of the horror movies, I started to move towards the sound not walking away.

"Who dares to break into my home? No one is allowed to do that beside me!" I thought to myself as I sneaked closer

When pummeling the doors with a fist didn't work, whoever it was, started to pull on the doors, trying to open them. The next bang was so loud, it sounded like the doors were kicked with a foot.

I reached the corner of the house just in time for me to witness, my drunk father falling flat on his ass after he lost his balance "This is my home…you have no fucking right to keep me out of it!" he yelled at the air

I stood silent by the corner and kept watching, how he struggled to get up to his feet and walked back to the doors, resuming to smack his hand at the doors angrily "Callie…open up!" I flinched at the shrill sound. But I don't think he saw me standing there. He hasn't looked at me. Dad thinks I'm locking him out of the house.

Donald pressed his forehead to the doors after he stopped pounding at the locked doors "Jude!" his voice was much more quiet, much softer "…I know you are in there…open the doors! Come on, bud, please…it's me!" Donald pleaded

I wrestled with myself as to what I should do. After what Stef told me, after learning that Donald was done with us, I wanted to be done with him as well. I never wanted to see him again. I hated him and I had never hated someone so intensely in my whole life. All the pain that he has caused, it resurfaced - all the nights he left us alone, all the times he ignored us, all the nights he came stumbling through those doors drunk, him being responsible for killing mom, him walking away from us - made me want to scream at him: why...why are you doing this to us?

I should be walking away and never look back. I should be leaving him the same way he left us, without saying a single word. I should not be spending any more time and energy on him, because he hasn't given a damn about us.

They say, you should cut toxic people like him out of your life, so you could spend time with people who are worth your time. Jude, for example. I should be with Jude right now. I should be there when he wakes up.

Yet here I am.

Walking up to him and helping him get back home safe so he doesn't hurt himself. Not being able to walk away.


	22. Chapter 22

Callie POV

It was a long walk from dad's new place back to Stef and Lena's house. Took me almost two hours as I was in no hurry what so ever. Jude was sound asleep even before I left. Knowing what he has been through these last couple of days made me believe that he won't wake up till morning. He needed the rest. From my own experience I knew how much safer Stef and Lena's place felt compared to the others houses. It was the closest one to home. So I had no doubt, Jude's going to sleep through the night peacefully.

Most of the time, when dad is drunk and I'm walking him back home, I have to listen to him putting me down. The insults mean nothing to me, he hasn't said anything I hadn't heard in the last 7 years. I could also take him blaming me for every small thing that had happened in the last year. What hurt the most was him telling me how ungrateful I was and how my mother would be disappointment in me. Those words have brought tears to my eyes numerous times.

I always told myself - he didn't mean it, it's the alcohol talking, not him, don't listen to him.

And it is true. It's the drunk talking. Donald has never said any of the stuff while sober. Not to me and not to Jude. The alcohol makes him into a person that's complete opposite of the sober him. It only takes him one drink to go from - making jokes, singing and being more cheerful than usually drunk - to become bad mouthing, grumpy, inappropriate, blaming, easily frustrated and angered, selfish, drunk bastard.

Today, for some reason, I felt numb to everything he told me. His words didn't affect me the way they used to. Not even when he mentioned mom. It's like I have accepted it. My drunk father has told me so many times that mom would be disappointment in me and how ungrateful I was, that I have actually started to believe him, despite fighting it at the beginning.

After all, there was no one to tell me otherwise.

It was only when I closed the doors behind me and looked up, that I saw that both, Lena and Stef, sitting on the stairs. They didn't seem particularly angry, more like worried. And they looked to be wide awake, neither of them looked tired.

Walking up to the house, I had missed the fact that there was light on in the house, completely. I must have been too occupied with the thoughts in my mind to notice it.

It was late, that much I knew. When I was at dad's new place, it was already quarter pass midnight. From the little time I have spent here, I have learned that no one here is a late bird. They are in their beds by the time it's midnight. Besdies, stairs is a very strange place to sit.

They both stood up and we entered a kind of a stare down. No one said anything. I think Stef wanted to stay something. Her lips parted few time, which made me think she didn't know how to say what was on her mind. Not yet at least.

As I looked at them, there was only one question on my mind "What are you still doing up?"

Stef first frowned, as if not understanding my question, then looked back at her wife, who stood just one step behind her. When she finally did avert her gaze back to me, she took a step closer.

"We were worried about you!" Stef explained with a strain of desperation in her voice, like she was trying to get an important point across "We tried calling you, but you left your phone here…" she said gesturing to the living room with her right hand

"You were gone a long time and we had no idea where you were," Lena added to what Stef said "How could we sleep, knowing you were out there...alone?"

All I could do in response was to tilt my head down to avoid their looks, which to me were too much to handle, and breath out at the realization "Oh!" They were waiting up for me.

My relationship to them, especially with Stef, felt like a wild roller coaster ride. With ups and downs, twists and turns.

Seeing her after all those years, got me super excited. From my childhood memories, she was like a superhero to me. The best way to describe the feeling, was as if she was the one carrying the light at the end of a very dark, twisty tunnel that I thought I would never get out.

As we started to communicate more, I felt us growing closer. For the first time in years, I had someone to call a friend. Someone who listened, really listened to me. Gave me advice, supported me. I felt comfortable and safe with her. She seemed to actually enjoy the time we spent at the drop in center simply talking. At the same time, Jude was growing closer to Lena, who was just as amazing person as Stef. That part felt like the ride was slowly climbing up the track. It was only a matter of time before we reached the peak.

Then followed the down fall. It happened fast. My insecurities got us there. But despite everything that I had done, Stef was still there. And for a long time, I didn't understand why. I was used to seeing people leaving. So I was expecting Stef to walk to away as well, but she didn't. In fact, for a long time, she was the only one fighting for our relationship, while I let it crumble.

The ride then reached it's small ups and downs, small twists and turns. I was conflicted for a long time. Not understanding why Stef was still here, still trying to keep contact with me. Part of me wanted to keep distance, because I had been burned before and I didn't want to feel that pain again. But other part wanted to have our relationship back. I wanted my friend back. When I saw her through the group home window, after reading the letter, the second part of me won. I took a leap of faith and it paid off.

The night I called Stef to come pick me up, had felt like the roller coaster ride had went it's course. Things were suppose to settle down back to the way they were at the start. Yet now it felt like the roller coaster ride moved onto hidden track right before it was suppose to end it. I got a feeling they saw more like a daughter than a friend. And just now I started to wonder, if I saw them more like parent figures for I felt so guilty for worrying them so much tonight. Realizing that I had caused them pain was a really, really hard to handle.

In addition to being confused by that, there was still the fact that our father was pushing Jude and I away, while these woman were taking us in - under their wing.

I have never felt this confused and conflicted in my entire life as I do right now.

Stef stepped closer to me and placed her hands on my upper arms "We're so glad you are okay!" she told me, before she leaned in and pulled me in an embrace, holding me tightly against her chest.

When I closed my eyes and embraced her back, Stef whispered in my ear "I was so worried…don't ever do that again, love!"

Lena came up to us and rested her palm on my shoulder blade, showing me she's there as well. It was such a simple gesture, but it meant more than words ever could.

Feeling overwhelmed, I pulled out of the embrace and ran my hand over my eyes quickly. Both woman stopped and gave me the space I had asked without words. Now it felt awkward. I tried to think of something to tell them, but my mind was completely blank.

"Where were you?" Stef wondered

"Uhm.." I breathed out and licked my lips "I saw dad," I replied casually, as if it was no big deal, tilted my head down and walked pass them

"You went to see Donald?" Lena asked to clarify as I heard them follow me into the living room

"Not exactly," I answered, turning to face them as I had reached the couch.

Lena had now taken a seat on the arm holder of one of the armchairs. Stef stood next to her, her hands pressed to her hips. Both of them watched me closely. I sat down at the very edge of the couch. My eyes darted between both of the women as I just was not sure, who should I be explaining myself to.

"We ran into each other at the house."

Slowly nodding my head, I added with a humorless chuckle "He was drunk." It felt like that was all they needed to know to understand my whereabouts of the last couple of hours.

"Oh, honey!" I heard Lena breath out.

I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have looked at them. Because once I did, I saw the way they gazed back at me, and I no longer could hold it together. Tears whelmed up in my eyes the next second and I turned to look at the far side of the room, away from them. I covered my mouth with my palm as I tried to stop from feeling anything.

I hated that dad could do this to me - hurt me like this. If only I could stop caring.

They came over and sat down on both sides of me. Arms wrapped around me. They squeezed me between them. At first, the hug from both of them, made me cry out, but then it made me feel better as I felt the love from both of them.

"This was the last time," I got out in a weak voice "Next time, he can crawl out of the ditch he fell in himself."

"I'm done with him!" I promised myself, but silently wondered how long will this promise last. It can't be this simple, can it?


	23. Chapter 23

Lena POV

I was by the kitchen sink, doing dishes, when Stef came up to help. She took the towel dish and started to dry the dishes that I had put in the drying rack. Her attention and gaze, just like mine, was split. When she wasn't looking down at the dish in her hand, Stef gazed out the window to the backyard, where Jude and Callie were sitting on the edge of the terrace. Side by side, talking to one another. The topic they discussed must be heavy, because I saw the way the conversation weighted on them. It affected their behavior, way how they watched one another.

"How long have they been sitting out there?" Stef asked, when I handed her the last plate that needed to be dried

"What time did B and the twins came down for breakfast?" I wondered as I briefly glanced to her for I had not paid attention to the time

"Huh," was the only noise Stef made, but her gaze became slightly more filled with love and concern. Her reaction suggested it had been a while.

"Did you have any plans for today?" I asked her while scrubbing clean the pan

"Beside the usual chores, not really. What are you thinking?" She raised her eyebrow up a little

"Jude was pent up in that house for weeks. It's summer. I thought maybe we could take them both somewhere. To beach to catch some Sun and swim. There are discounts at he aquarium. The twins mentioned the arcade on the pier was fun, it had lots of stuff to see and do. Maybe grab a bite afterwards."

Not only the kids would have some fun, but it would also be a great way for us to bond, get to know each other better, learn something new about them and the other way around. It's often we get alone time with these kids, not just Callie and Jude, but B and the twins as well. Everyone is busy, have other plans. We are lucky to have time to sit down together at the breakfast and dinner table.

A smile blossomed on Stef's face "I love that idea."

"Great! I'll go talk to them about it," I beamed back, closing the tap for I had just finished doing the last of the dishes. Stef only had to dry and put everything in its place.

After I quickly dried my hands in the hand towel which was hung around the the holder of the stove, I made my way to the back porch.

"Hey guys!" I called cheerfully as I carefully closed the doors behind me.

I thought I heard Callie whisper to Jude "-don't mention it, " before she shushed him and both of them look over their shoulders to see who was coming their way.

"What are you talking about?" I wondered, slightly curious, as I approached them

"Nothing," they said in unison evasively. The way they said it, made me think they were talking about something they didn't want me to know. Some sort of secret between them, I guess. I was pretty sure they won't let me in on it, so I didn't even try to pry into their business. I believed that if they wanted me involved, they would tell me themselves. Much like Jude had opened up to me about his time at the last foster home.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked gesturing down to the spot beside Jude

They shook heads and I heard Callie reply barely above whisper "No."

Once I had taken a seat next to them, I clasped my hands together and gazed to them, without turning my body towards them "So, Stef and I were talking…and we were wondering if you want to go out with us?"

Jude glanced to his other side to his sister, who just shrugged her shoulders, before returning his confused, but intrigued gaze back to me "Out where?"

"Well, we thought of few places. Like the arcade on the pier. If you don't like crowds, we walk along the beach. Also, I read in the paper this morning, there is a small discount at the aquarium, so it's a great time to visit it. Or we could go to the park or the Zoo. Maybe there is a movie you would like to see at the movie theater?" I said, counting off all the ideas I had in mind, hoping that one of them appeals to them.

The excitement in Jude's eyes grew the more ideas I told him about. Callie, on the other hand, displayed no interest in anything that I said, but reacted more to her brothers happiness of the idea of going out and seeing something else than four walls.

"I haven't been to an arcade in years!" Jude exclaimed, the happiness pouring out of every pour on his body. He looked eagerly at his sister, who in return grinned at him and ruffled his hair. His eyes sparked up the way they had when these two kids had reconnected after spending weeks apart.

"Then I guess that's settled!" I replied, slightly surprised how fast and easy it was, but still expecting for a bump in the road

"Really?" Jude sounded unsure, like he couldn't believe this was actually happening. It must have been quite a long time since someone took them out.

"Yes!" I first confirmed with Jude, but then glanced pass him to his sister, who was being awfully quiet "Callie, is arcade okay with you?" I asked to make sure she has no objections, so she would enjoy the time as well.

"Oh, uh…" she became kind of nervous, rubbed her hands to her jeans "I'm going to pass this time."

"What? No…you have to come, Callie!" Jude turned to his sister "It will be no fun without you." If Jude can 't convince her, I doubt I have a chance

"I…I can't. I have to go to the drop-in center, try to get my old job back. If that doesn't work, I need to look for an alternative."

"We can stop by the drop-in center on the way to the arcade," I suggested, wanting to get Callie to join us as I was sure, Jude would be more open and comfortable with Callie there. Not only that, but I wanted for Callie to have some fun as well. She's always so serious, like all the weight of the word was on her shoulders. The thoughts in her head didn't leave her alone. I wanted to give her a chance to be a kid again, even if that was for two hours.

"No, no!" Callie declined the offer kind of gingerly, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, and stood up "You go, have fun. I will join you some other time." She kissed Jude on his head, before she turned and left.

Jude watched as Callie left, then hung his head down and said in a low voice "We don't have to go. I don't mind staying here."

I scooted an inch closer to Jude "Do you want to go?"

Jude shrugged his shoulders evasively as if not wanting to admit the truth to me and to himself. When he raised his head up to look me in the eye, I saw guilt. His eyes screamed - guilty, for wanting to go have fun without his sister.

"We always do everything together," He admitted timidly after a moment

"Jude, it's okay if you still want to go to the arcade...without your sister. You should not feel bad about it," I replied taking his hand in my mind "You two don't need to do absolutely everything together all the time. You are not betraying her in any way and you won't hurt her by going without you. She wants you to have fun!"

"No, I can't go!" Jude shook his head as he seemed to be having a fight with himself "I should not be wasting my time on some stupid games at the arcade, while she will be doing more important stuff, you know, like getting her job back."

"Jude!" I stopped his rambling by placing my palm gently on his cheek "Jude, listen to me." I waited till he was focusing and listening to me "You are allowed to have fun. You are young. It's summer! This is the time for you to go out and explore, do all kind of crazy stuff you dreamt of doing while sitting in classroom. Make new memories. Enjoy your childhood."

"And Callie shouldn't?" Jude questioned in a sharper voice

"I never said that!" I answered calmly " But your sister…she's not used to sitting still. Work keeps her grounded. It gives her a meaning and makes her feel valued and needed. It gives her a way to have a little bit of control over her life, which she did not have a lot while in foster care."

Without a doubt, Stef knew and understood the girl better than I. But from the day I met her at the drop in center, one thing was I completely sure about was the fact that Callie loved her job. It never seemed to be a burden for her. Callie always seemed happy to be there, happy to do her job, happy to help others, to be of use. Work was good for her. It kept her mind occupied, it kept her busy. Work made her feel useful and valued, and needed. It provided her exactly what she was missing while in foster care.

Callie was not good at sitting still. In fact, I believe she hated it. For Callie, existing wasn't good enough. She wanted to leave a mark in the world. The girl was scared of disappearing in the crowd. Of being forgotten and not being remember, by anyone. She didn't want to be nothing…or be no one.

For years, foster care was doing just that - making sure these kids were no one. They had no say about their life what so ever. These kids were being treated like property. Put in and taken out of homes whenever someone snaps a finger. Not a lot of people get the wish of achieving anything after years of neglect and abuse. And I could tell, Callie was fighting back. After years of being told what to do, how to behave, what to say she was trying to get a hold of her own life. Make her own path.

Somehow, Callie had managed to make sure Jude doesn't get to feel that way. It was a huge job for someone as young as she was. And it certainly left a huge impact on the girl. It's not an easy habit to break and it certainly can't happen over few short days. So, now Callie must be searching for a way to fill that hole. To make herself feel needed and useful.

Callie needed to take control of her life and getting her job back will be a small step in the right direction. Mainly because Callie chose to do it herself. No one told her to do it, no one forced her to do it. She came up with the idea herself. Callie wants to do it. I sure as hell won't stop her.

Jude became thoughtful for a moment "When Callie will have some free time, can we go someplace Callie wants to go?"

"Absolutely!"

Callie POV

I had prepared for the worst case scenario, where I had to look for a job elsewhere, so I was slightly stunned by how easily it was. My boss had been holding the position for me, hoping to see me come back. Which I did. I got the same hours as before, which I was happy about, because it worked well last year.

By the time I got back to the house they - Stef, Lena and Jude - had already left for the arcade. I knew it because Stef's car was not in the driveway. Technically, I could turn around and walk to the pier to join them, but I didn't, because for this new situation to work, Jude should spent some time alone with his foster parents.

As I was with one foot in the house, I heard the real kids talking in the kitchen. I didn't want to eavesdrop on them, I simply heard their conversation as I came in.

"How long is she staying?" Mariana asked her brothers

"Don't know, but I hope, not long. She's occupying the living room. I haven't played the X-box or watched any sport in days," said Jesus

"I, personally, don't mind Jude, because moms are actually fostering him, but Callie…she's like a leech. Living off moms," Brandon added

"The house is too full. I barely get enough bathroom time before they came around, " Mariana whined, but then added in lower and much more softer voice "Moms have been kind of...paying less attention to us, ever since they met them."

They were not wrong, but I just wasn't ready to hear it being said. I probably heard the tip of their conversation, but still it felt too much to handle. It was hard enough to admit it they were right about me overstaying my welcome here. The fact that they felt their moms were paying more attention to me and Jude than them, was a tough realization. I never wanted to ruin their family like that.

A strong wind blew and banged the doors to the wall. I knew it caught their attention, their conversation came to a quick stop.

Not ready to face them and not ready to talk about it, I acted by running out of the house, before they saw me.


	24. Chapter 24

Callie POV

"Hey! You coming or not?" A bus driver called out to me as he looked at me through the open bus doors. He was not the first driver to ask me that. I had been sitting at this bus stop for a while now. But he was the first one to have an accent, sounded like he was from somewhere in Europe.

"No, sorry!" I replied feeling slightly apologetic for misleading the bus driver. The doors closed and the bus took off, leaving me sitting alone on the bench. Again.

I had come here, thinking I would hop in the first bus that came by and get away. The problem was, I couldn't think of one place I could go to except from the drop-in center. There had been times when it had felt more like a home than my actual home, but I did not want to stay there. I could crash there for a day as a last resort, but only for a day or two. It was not my plan to become the kind person, who lives at their work place.

Besides the drop-in center, the only other place that came to my mind was Donald's new place. But things weren't bad enough for me to consider going back to dad. There was no guarantee he would actually take me in, even if it was for a one night. If he did, I would most likely end up cleaning his vomit up from the floor.

This was the first time I came to a realization that I had no friends my age. Foster kids are often considered freaks and other kids at school avoided us like a plague. That goes for Jude and I both. If they didn't ignore us, they bullied us, called us names, made fun of us, mocked us. Jude has been locked in his locker, his clothes have been stolen while he was in shower after gym. Mean girls have made up horrible gossip about me and it spread through the school in matter of few minutes. One time my classmates stuffed my bag in toilet and flushed it. The kids do all of that for fun. All of that experience made us both want to stay away from other people even more. The one time each of us had someone in our lives to call a friend, we were moved, all across the city. We had no way to contact our so called friends, no money to take a buss and go see them, and no freedom as we had been put at the most strict foster home ever, that reminded us more of a jail than an actual home. After a while, we simply stopped trying to make friends, because it wasn't worth the effort. We had each other and it was enough.

But it didn't mean we didn't want friends. Right now, watching a three girls chat and giggle across the street, made me realize I was envy of them because of how close they all seemed. I wish I had that kind of friend. A friend where I could crash for the night, a friend to talk with, to vent and to cry with.

I let out a long and deep sigh as I took my eyes away from the girls across the street and looked down the street that lead back to the house. Enough time had passed that it was safe to head hack there. I doubt the kids will be in the kitchen talking about me behind my back after all this time. But still, I could not get myself to walk back home.

The words that bothered me the most was how Brandon called me a leach. Mainly, because the truth was often the hardest to hear. I was living under their roof, eating their food, using their hot water for free. I was occupying their house. Using them. It was not right. Stef and Lena will grew tiered of me, it was only matter of time. I needed to find my own place, before they decide to throw me out on the street.

My phone, in my pocket buzzed. Taking it out, I saw that it was Stef calling me. I stared down at the screen for couple of seconds before I answered it.

"Hey! Where are you?" She asked starigt away

I glanced around my surrounding before replying "Bus stop…at Misson Bay and 7th. Why?"

"We just got back from the arcade and we were wondering, if we can start dinner," Stef replied in slightly faster manner. As I learned couple of seconds later, it was to get to the question on her mind "What are you doing there? You going somewhere?"

"No, no…not going," I scratched my temple as I tried to figure out what to tell her. To my own surprise, I replied truthfully "No, I was planning to, but I ended sitting here for over hour. Pondering...about life and stuff."

"Are you coming home soon?" The words came out of her slowly, indicating she had gotten worried

"Um, " I hummed as I weighted my options "Yeah, yes…I'mheading back as we speak. Be there in 5."

* * *

When I got back to the house, I found Jude in the kitchen along with the two woman. They had started to make dinner together. By the looks of ir, Jude was put in charge of cutting tomato's and cucumbers. Lena was obviously the main cook as I heard her order Stef around. Time by time, she checked to see how Jude was doing and even gave him a tip or two.

"Hey! How was the arcade?" I asked my brother as I stopped at the end of the table

"It was awesome! So much fun!" Jude exclaimed happily as he stopped chopping and put the knife down "There are so many games there. I only got to play like 5 of them."

"I'm glad you had fun!" I was genuinely happy that he had a good time. It's not too often I see him this happy. I would love for this to become something permanent. "What was your favorite?"

"Dance Dance revolution! It's super fun! You have to select a song and then dance to it," He said as he returned to chop the tomatoes "There was one kid, before me, who played on expert mode. He was moving so fast, like lightning. Lena and Stef said we can go again next week!"

"How did your day go?" Lena wondered after Jude had finished

"It was…okay. " The first part of the went by great, it was the second part that slightly ruined my great mood.

"Got your job back?" Stef asked. I confirmed it with a head nod. Stef leaned on the kitchen table and asked the next second "So, what happened that made this day just….okay? "

Averting my eyes down, I shrugged my shoulders trying to avoid answering any further. "Nothing, " I mumbled under my nose while drawing invisible forms on the kitchen table with my index finger

"Uh…do you need any help with dinner?" I asked shortly after in the hopes they will drop the wish to talk about me.

The two woman glanced to one another and it almost felt like they were having a real conversation, with words just with their eyes. It's a shame I could not read in their eyes what they read in each others. I wasn't sure what to expect, which is not a nice feeling. Jude seemed to be missing the hidden conversation between his foster moms as he was once again occupied with cutting a tomato in perfect cubes.

Their conversation must have ended, because Lena said to me "I believe Jude and I got this. Right, bud?"

After Lena's question, all eyes turned to my brother, who stopped what he was doing, raised his head up and replied with a convicting and firm "Yes!"

Stef handed the bowl she was holding to Lena and turned to me "She can get real crazy if you meddle!" The looks and Stef 's smirk they exchanged were hinting that there might be stories underneath that can confirm that statement.

"We should go, kiddo!" Stef came my way with her arm extended. Once close enough, she placed her hand on my shoulder. Together we walked out to the porch and sat on the bench. From the outside, the action seemed all innocent, but I had a gut feeling that there was more to it. I actually sensed a conversation coming my way in my bones.

The first few seconds were spend by us sitting in silence. I figured it was Stef's way of giving me an opportunity to begin sharing, without her giving me a slight push, because Stef spoke up a moment later.

"So, the bus stop," Stef didn't say anything else, giving me a chance to fill in the blank spots myself

I had no idea what to tell her, so I sat silent for a long time. When we had spoken previously on the phone, I said too much already. She knew something was up. And knowing her, she will not back down till she digs to the bottom of things. That characteristic of hers was double edged. I'm sure it came handy at work, where she needs to dig deep to find the truth, but right now, when I was staring down at the double edged blade, put me in an uncomfortable spot. Which made me wonder, if her kids have been in the same position as I was now? But mostly - how the hell do I get away from it!

"Uh- " the words were at the tip of my tongue, but I simply could not bring myself to tell her what I had overheard. So instead of speaking the truth, of opening up to the woman, I closed off by shaking my head and replying "It's nothing, really. I just stopped there on my way back from the drop-in center and…you know…" I shrugged not knowing what more to say "I didn't even notice how much time had passed until you called. The hour went by so fast..."

Stef watched me closely for a while, without saying anything, untill "Callie, honey," she reached for my hand and gripped it firmly, yet gently in hers "You can tell me the truth. I don't bite," The smirk at the end eased up the tension between us a little bit, but it was not enough for me to open up.

"If you didn't get your job back, it's okay. Lena and I will help you find something. You don't have to be emb-"

"It's not the job. I got the job," I pulled my hand out of hers "I'm fine!"

"Clearly you are not!" Stef retorted

"What do you know!" It was only after I said it, I realized I had raised my voice at her. I was up to my feet as well. Clearly, I was not fine. And the fact that she knew it, but I was trying to hide it - got me worked up, very fast.

I could tell by the look in her eyes, Stef was not pleased that I had raised my voice at her, but to my surprise, she didn't react to it in the same manner. Stef stood up as well, so that our eyes would be at the same level. She took a small step closer to me as she spoke in a soft manner "I know that, people who are fine, do not sit at bus stop for over an hour, pondering about their life, Callie! They do not think about leaving the people who _love_ them, behind!"

"The only one, who _loves_ me is Jude, but-" I said close to tears, but my voice was still raised as I tried to prove a point

"Think again!" Stef snapped back.

What I had not expected was for her to go from 0 to 100 in a matter of second. I don't think she was fueled by the same fear as I was. No, it was something else. Something much different. I could practically see the fire in her eyes. I was taken aback by her words. It almost felt like an invisible wave, like a sound wave, had struck me at my core. Through my slightly parted lips, sharp breath escaped. My eyes blinked more rapidly. I took a tiny step back to steady myself. Glaring to her eyes, I swallowed down a lump in my throat.

"Time will come, when I will have to leave him anyway," I finally got over my lips, what I had wanted to say before Stef cut me off. I did not sound anything like I had 5 seconds ago. I said it to the ground, not to Stef.

"Why do you think that?" Her voice was just as intense as it was before. Unlike me, she was not kicked off balance.

"I'm an outsider," I gestured back to the house "I don't belong here, with y…uh…with…" I could not bring myself to say it

"With us?" Stef finished for me

I nodded my head in a barely visible manner and once again averted my eyes down. Stef was once again so close to me, she could take my hands in hers "Callie, I promise you - there will never come a time, when you will have to leave! I promise you! And you are definitely not an outsider. You belong here - with us, with Jude! You're part of the family!"

"That's what you think," I said it without thinking

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing! Forget I said anything!" I tried to pull my hands out from her hold again, but Stef managed to hold on to my right hand. And she did not let go. She held on.

"No, I will not!" While she tried to establish eye contact, I was trying to avoid it. But Stef was stubborn, too damn stubborn to let it go "Did the kids say something to you?"

"No, no they didn't…." I sighed, feeling like I was loosing the energy to hide the truth "Not to my face at least!"

And at that moment, I felt and saw how Stef looked, when she was stunned by words. To me, it mostly seemed as though she was being disappointment in her children. Truly, let down by their actions or this case, words.


	25. Chapter 25

Stef POV

Lena and I were sat in the armchairs in the living room. She was leaned back into the chair, her arms resting perfectly on the arm holders as she stared out the window with a stoic facial expression. I was leaned forward, my elbows pressed to my knees, but my palms clasped together, as I stared down to the floor by my feet.

We had asked the Jacob siblings to go upstairs, while we have this family meeting. As we heard the three of our children coming down the stairs, we both averted our attention to the doorway as we waited for them to enter.

"What's up?" Jesus came in first, followed my his twin and then his brother.

"Jude said we needed to come down," Mariana said as they all stopped by the step in the living room

"Is this going to take long? I was working on this new original piece for the next competition," Brandon was in a hurry to get back to what he was doing, so he looked to be the most uninterested in what was happening

"Sit down, please. Mom and I need to talk to you all," Lena gestured to the couch that was in front of us. All the kid, glanced around to each other, wondering what this was about. They all seemed confused and unaware about the true meaning of this meeting.

"Why do you look so serious?" Brandon wondered as she sat down first at the furthest side of the couch. Mariana sat in the middle, thus giving Jesus the space at her other side of the couch.

There was so much I wanted to talk to them about, so much I wanted to say them, but more than anything I wanted to understand what they were thinking. Despite all that, I could not figure out a way how to start the conversations, that it's diverted in the right tracks. I wanted an honest, open conversation with them about what their problem with Callie seemed to be. So, I glanced to my wife by my side, hoping she knows how to start it off. When Lena felt me looking at her, she looked back at me.

Our eyes met and I could tell, she understood that she had to be the one to start it off, because I couldn't, but that's when we heard Mariana gasp "Oh, god!" Looking back at our daughter, we saw her sit up, the expression of fear and worry written all over her face like I had never seen before "Is moms cancer back?" I guess, our silence about the real topic on our hands and how serious we both looked, went on too long, making them imagine the worst possible things.

Her question made her brothers tense up as well. All of the sudden the atmosphere in the room had changed to dim one. It was no surprise that the fear had quickly spread to the other kids as well. Three pair of eyes were now looking at me, scared.

"No, no!" I quickly assured them as I shook my head "It's not back. I promise you, I'm perfectly healthy! We both are!" The all let out a relieved breath and relaxed visibly after my answer. Mariana leaned back into the couch. The fear and worry in their eyes disappeared.

"So, what then?" Brandon asked, his left hand raised up from the couch armrest, expressing his confusion about the reason for this meeting

Lena took a deep breath in before and licked her lips before she started off "Mom had an interesting conversation with Callie today - about you all. You see, she came home a bit earlier. Jude, mom and I were still at the arcade, but you were all home," Lena stated as her eyes traveled to all of them, as did mine, as I wanted to catch their reaction. Jesus stirred in his seat and I saw him tense up, Brandon glanced to his siblings and I noticed how he swallowed hard, Mariana averted her eyes down to her lap. It didn't take long for them to connect the dots.

"You all know what we are talking about, yes?" I questioned to make sure we were are talking about the same event, as I pressed my elbows to my knees and clasping my hands together

"She overheard us talking," Mariana said barely above whisper, Jesus nodded his head slowly a couple of times and said to himself, but Brandon admitted in shame as he averted his eyes down "It was not just the wind."

"I think it goes without saying, that mom and I are disappointed in you. We thought you raised you better," Lena spoke up expressing what we both felt at the moment, she took a small pause to allow those words sink in with them "What happened to - there's enough to go around? "

"We're sorry!" Brandon spoke for all of them, but I did not hear remorse in his voice. He was saying it, because he knew we wanted to hear them admit that they did wrong.

"Are you?" I questioned, in a slightly more raised and sharper voice, not quite believing it "I think you are saying it only we called you out on it!"

"I have to admit, I'm more disappointed with you two than I am with Brandon," Lena confessed as she turned her gaze to the twins "I had thought, because of your past, you would be more understanding and sympathetic, more open and willing to help and support, someone who have been in the system."

"Just because we used to be foster kids, does not mean we have a lot in common, you know. That's like saying everyone who lives in this neighborhood is the same! " Mariana argued back not quite in her usual manner, when she proves other people, how wrong they are. No, she was more careful, maybe even doubting herself what she had said.

"You have more in common than you think you do," This was one of those times, I did not agree with my daughter, and I was about to tell her why

"Your parents both left you!" I started to count on my fingers to show them just how many similarities I could think of in the next 10 seconds. The twins mom left them multiples times. She came back couple of times as came back to them, but all those times were short term. And each time she left them, hurt them more each time. Colleen Jacob was taken away from her kids, but the way Donald Jacob left his kids, was quite similar to way Ana left.

My thumb and index finger was out "You saw your parents abuse substances day in and day out." Jesus and Mariana have seen their mom snorting cocaine and injecting herself with a syringe in her arm. Callie and Jude saw Donald drinking daily. Both set of the siblings have tried to stop their parent from doing it, they have begged them to stop, they have cleaned after them and have helped them afterwards, they have felt ashamed of having such parent.

"You were tossed around foster care for years," I counted on my middle finger. The twins entered foster care, when they were about a year old and they were a ward of state for about 9 years, till we adopted them. The last two years they spent mostly with us, but still, during that time there was no sense of security that they weren't going to be taken away. Once they were adopted, things settled down for them and life started to improve. Callie and Jude had it the other way around. Their early childhood was everything the twins were missing at that age. Life turned upside down for them around the same time the twins life took a turn for better.

When I pressed my right hand index finger to my left ring finger, I added "You have been neglected and abused by your previous foster parents." They all suffered it at some degree in each house they were put. Jude's last house was a good example of how things worked. On the paper the family looked good, in real life, living there was like a nightmare.

I held up my left palm as I had counted up to five, it went hand in hand with the last one "The time you spent in foster care traumatized you more so than you like to admit - I'm talking about the nightmares, trust and abandonment issues, not feeling worthy enough for love, flinching at the smallest affection which wasn't initiated by you or quite the opposite craving attention."

"Trouble at school and not being able to fit in, because of the constant moving around," I raised my thumb up on my right hand. Jesus and Mariana didn't have any friends, when they arrived at us. The first real friend they had, was Lexi, who they met at school. We have known Callie and Jude for quite a long time now, but I haven't heard them mention anyone.

The seventh finger went up, when I said "For a long time the only one you could truly trust was each other."

"Being over-protective of each other," I stated as I looked directly at Jesus, remembering how he was at the very beginning, and raised the next finger up. Callie has been displaying this the most of all of them, probably because she and Jude have a bigger age difference. She feels responsible for him.

We got to the ninth, when Lena chimed in "Meeting mom through her work, while you were at the lowest point of your lives. Mom met you two, when you were left at the police station by your foster parents, but mom met Callie and Jude, the day their mom died. She was the one who had to break the news to them. Then, few years later, they met again at the station. So, if it wasn't for mom being a cop, I don't think we would have met either one of you!"

As we reached the tenth point, it got me chocked up a little bit "It was so easy to fall in love with both of you!"

I paused for a moment to get my composure back and clear my throat "The only difference, between you and them, is the fact that you were lucky. If an alternative universe would exists, everything could be reverse. You could be in their place and they would be in your place."

By the end of my rant, as the twins looked at each other, they displayed guilt and remorse. I had clearly gotten to them and put everything in a new perspective for them.

"And B, what did you call her?" I turned to our oldest "A leech, was it?"

He looked at me, scared. Brandon could only keep eye contact with me for a second, before he averted his eyes elsewhere.

"Why would you say that?" Lena wondered not understanding our sons way of thinking

"Don't know," he replied evasively

"Brandon, she didn't come here on her own. I invited her. It was me, who insisted she stays with us! She she had nowhere else to go," I explained to him, so there would be no more misunderstandings about why the girl was here "Besides, her brother is here! We can't take in one of them and turn our back to the other. We love both of them!"

"I just...I didn't understand why she was staying here, if she had her father, you know. We thought she had home."

"Their father is a drunk, who doesn't want anything to do with them!" Lena reminded him

"Now I know that," Brandon replied as he looked to me and then to Lena "I really am sorry for what I said."

"I'm sorry as well!" Jesus chimed in "We were being ass-" Lena cleared her throat, suggesting he should not try to finish the word. Jesus chuckled nervously and smiled as she looked down " You know what I mean."

"I do," Lena smiled at the boy, despite the fact that he did not see it

"Me too. We shouldn't have talked behind her back like that." Mariana agreed with her brothers "I remember how it felt when I overheard Kelsey talking behind my back."

"It's not us you need to apologize to," Lena clarified

Callie POV

Hearing them all apologize to me was bizarre. At first I thought they would be saying it, only because their moms told them to, so they would be done with it and everyone leaves them alone. But it turned out to not be the case at all. Their words were sincere, voices genuine, I saw guilt written all over their faces and they expressed how rude it was.

"If you want to play x-box, but I'm in the way, just tell me. I'll leave," I said in response to what Jesus had told his siblings a while back, after B was done apologizing about calling me a leach.

"No, you are not in anyone's way," Jesus answered "I was being an ass! Instead of whining about it, I should have just asked if-"

My phone in the pants pocket started to ring, interrupting Jesus in the middle of his sentence "Sorry," I mumbled as I reached for it

"No, don't worry about it," Jesus smiled at me, suggesting I should answer it

The second I saw who was calling I grunted to myself "Great!" My finger lingered over the – decline – button as I was seriously considering ignoring his call. That gave the time for Mariana to peak at the screen to see who it was. Her brothers did as well, just not so striking.

"Do you want us to-?" Brandon wondered and nodded towards the kitchen, suggesting they would leave to give me some space to take this call

"What do you want, dad?" I answered the call with an attitude, wanting him to know I felt about him, as I turned my back to the Adams Fosters kids

"Callie, I've been thinking. Lot of thinking. And I realized I made a huge mistake. The worst one yet. I want you back..."


	26. Chapter 26

Callie POV

"I'm going to change! I'm going to stop drinking. No more beer at home, no more going to a bar after work. There is this AA meeting group near my work that I went to the other day. Didn't share, but plan to the next time I go there. I'm actually thinking of attending on regular basis for the real deal: get myself a sponsor, share, listen, get the chips," Dad preached in my ear, trying to convince me to come live with him.

He was going on non-stop for at least two minutes. In that time, I had wandered from the living room to dinning room and now stood by the window with my phone up to my ear, gazing out to the street. This was the first time I heard him talk for so long. Usually, he was a man of few words. But this conversation was a monologue, not a dialogue, because I haven't said a word since I asked him what he wanted.

At this point I was no longer sure what to think. He certainly sounded determaind, which made me wonder if he had something to drink to be this way. But I had not heard him slur his words once, which got me thinking that he was actually meaning all of what he was I could not figure out was why he had sudenlly changed his mind about us. Did he have an ephiphany of some sort about the meaning of life and love and family? Was he sick and trying to make amends with us? Did he need something from us - a liver or money? What made him make this call?

I understood very well that I shouldn't believe anything he has told me. Dad was bad at keeping promises. With him it was the question of when rather than if. So, I knew better not to believe what he was telling me, but still, something was making me hear him up and and just consider his offer.

I have been burned by fire already one time, was I really considering playing with fire again?

"Are you listening to me, Cal?" He asked, pulling me out of my thoughts

"Mhmm," I hummed back and took the phone in my other hand to place it to my other ear "I hear you."

"These last few days...I've missed you. It's so lonely to come home to an empty apartment. Back when we were living at the house, it was such a nice feeling knowing you and Jude were both there," Donald paused for a moment, then he cleared his throat as if he had gotten a bit sentimental and emotional talking about it, and continued "Once we are settled, I could try and get Jude back. The house was too big and too expensive for us, but I was thinking about getting a bigger apartment. Big enough for you both to have your own room. I could sleep on the couch in the living room. We could be a family again. It will be different this time, I promise you that."

I bit my lip to not say what was on my mind - you're the reason we aren't a family right now. Instead, I hummed back. If he truly was on the right track, like he preached he was, I was afraid to say or do something wrong that would make him revert back to his old self.

For the first time during this call, a silence fell between us. I had nothing to tell him, but I had a lot to think about. This was not something I could answer on the spot. There was so much to take into consideration. This day had already drained me even before he called me.

"Anyhow, you don't have to give me an answer right now. But can you promise me, that you will you think about it?" He finally asked

I replied as I tilted my head down to look at my feet "Yeah, I will think about it." As I said it, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning around, I saw Stef, Lena and Jude walk down the stairs all together.

"That's all I ask," He sounded satisfied with my answer

"Hey...where are you staying right now?" Dad asked me, while the three of them watched me from the hallway

"At a friend's house," I answered as I gazed to Stef. As I said it, a faint smile spread across Stef's lips and her eyes light up.

"I have to go."

"Give me a call, when you have an answer for me."

"I will. Bye." I said quickly, wanting this conversation to end, as I did not want to have it in front of them. Dad didn't even get the chance to properly say goodbye to me as I had ended the call before he could even get a single word out of his mouth. Glancing down to the phone in my hand, I made sure the call had ended, then locked my phone and looked back at the three people in front of me.

"Was that dad?" Jude asked once I ended the call "What did he want?"

"Yeah," I said averting my eyes down to the phone in my hand "Uh, nothing. You know, the usual stuff..." I squirmed internally for the fact that I had lied to my brother. Thankfully, Jude seemed to believe me and did not look like he was about to question me about it. After all, it was not hard to imagine dad drunk calling me. He had done it before many times.

"So, uh, Lena...can I help you with the dinner now. I'm starving," I turned to Lena as I desperately needed to change the subject. My plan right now, was to ignore the given problem and leave if for later, when I was actually ready to make that sort of decission.

Lena glanced to Stef, who gave her a small nod, then she patted my brother's shoulder. Jude looked up her, tilting his head back "Lets go finish our dinner!"

They both walked to the kitchen. As I was following them, walking pass Stef, I was stopped. She gently stopped me, by putting her arm in front of me, then placing it on my upper arm and whispered to me "Do you want to talk-"

"No," I whispered back, cutting her off "Not right now. I just want to cook dinner with Jude and Lena."

"Okay," Stef let go of my arm, giving me the space and time I needed, but reminded me in a hushed voice, before I could follow my brother and Lena to the kitchen "When you are ready, come find us."

Lena POV

Almost three weeks had passed, but Callie never came to talk to us about the conversation with her father. It was making me worried. For what I knew about her father, it could have been just another drunk call. But then again, if it had been just another drunk call, would Callie have taken it so hard. We both had noticed how she looked when she told Jude about him, brushing it off like it was nothing. It was a lie. That much we knew. There were a lot of times, when I was alone with her in kitchen or living room, or driving her to or back from work, where I just wanted to ask her about it. But we were respecing her wish and gave her the time and space she asked for, so I bit my lip and didn't bring it up. Callie was a private person. And Stef was convinced that she will come to us, though I was starting to doubt it.

My wife was certain that Donald had asked Callie for something and all this time, Callie was trying to come up with an answer. Whatever her father had asked her, was influencing her hard. There had been couple of time, I had found her standing by the window, gazing out for minutes at time, with eyes that tell me she was someplace else in her mind. She has been staring blankly at the book or magazine in her hands and not turning a page for ages. Stef and I have noticed her watching Jude as he chats with one of the other kids, plays a game, watches TV or does any other mundane action. She simply watched him, without saying anything and then snapping out of it, when she had been spoken to or Stef poked her side playfully.

There was something on that girls mind that was troubling her. More than anything, I wanted to help her figure it out, but I didn't want to impose. I know this was eating at Stef as well. Seeing the girl like that, was hard.

But all was not so dark. Callie wasn't like that all of the time. We went to the arcade with her and Jude and she was enjoying herself to the fullest. Chatting, laughing, making jokes. She went to the circus with the rest of the kids. And the kids all went to the beach to swim together a couple of times. We restarted game nights and Callie was participating, challenging Stef like no one had done before. Monopoly was the most played game right now. Movie nights with popcorn were back as well. The twins and B always allowed Jude and Callie to chose the movie to watch, even if they had seen it before as they have learned, the Jacob siblings hadn't had the privilege to watch the movies when they came out 2 or even 5 years ago. Stef and Callie had this new thing where they watch the nature documentaries each Sunday, with a cup of cocoa in their hands and a blanket around them. Callie likes to help me in the garden to tend to the flower beds. As it turned out, helping me in the garden, reminded her of time with Colleen.

Stef and I started to remodel, refurnish and rearrange the garage. It was full of boxes and stuff we no longer needed. Our goal was to clear it out and make it livable. We did not want Callie sleeping on the couch forever. She needed her own little corner. With our limited resources, turning the garage into a guest bedroom, seemed most appropriate option.

The hardest part and the part that took us the longest was figuring out what boxes we need to keep and what we can throw away to clear the space. Some of the older clothes - jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, barely worn shoes - that the kids grew out from before they could ware it off, I washed and later took over to the drop-in center as I had figured out, someone in need can use them. It was once again Callie who looked through the stuff to make sure they were decent. When she had asked me where I got these, I had told there that Stef and I were cleaning the attic as we wanted to keep the garage a surprise for the girl.

* * *

After 20 days of waiting, there was a knock on our bedroom doors almost at midnight. Neither one of us had gone to bed yet. Stef was reading an article in a magazine, while I was only 5 pages away from finish reading a book.

Stef looked over her glasses to the doors "Seems a bit late, doesn't it?"

"Maybe Jude or Callie don't feel well," It was my first thought, that they were feeling sick. Why else would there be a knock on our doors so late at night.

"Yes, come in!" Stef called out lowering her magazine down to her lap

Door handle moved down and the doors were slowly being opened by Callie. At first she did not step inside fully, just peaked her head inside.

"Were you sleeping?" She sounded scared that she woke us "It can wait till morning-"

"No, no! We are both awake," I closed the book and put it on the nightstand, showing her she had our full attention even at this hour "Come inside, honey!" I patted the bed next to me suggesting her to come right up and not be scared

Callie stepped in wary and closed the doors behind her, making me think this was going to be serious, because she didn't want anyone else to hear whatever we were going to be discussing. We watched how she walked timidly to the end of our bed. Stef took her glasses off and put them on her nightstand. I was sure, that Stef felt it as well – how serious, but scared the girl seemed.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose nervously "Can we talk?"

"We are listening, love," Stef told her as she had our undevided and full attention from both of us

"Remember, when Donald called me," Callie started off as she fiddled the string of her pajamas pants between her fingers

Stef and I shared a worried, yet relieved look. We had been waiting for this conversation for days. Our patience paid off. Callie was finally ready. But somehow, I had a bad feeling. Not sure why. But I felt it.

"We do," Stef confirmed as I stirred in my spot. My heart even began to beat faster as I had no idea what to expect. We waited for her to get her courage up to say whatever was on her heart. It took her a couple of seconds.

"Dad asked me to move in with him," Callie informed us a bit shyly "And I'm...considering it!"

 **AN: I haven't decided what direction I want to go. So, I am truly sorry about yet another cliffhanger. I thought that by the time I will write it up, I will have figured it out. But I hadn't. But once I do, you will have a new chapter to read. Maybe I will just flip a coin...**


	27. Chapter 27

Lena POV

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Stef jumped up from the bed not being able to take the news lightly "You are considering it?"

"I have been thinking about it, lately, yes!" Callie repeated just for Stef, who seemed to not be able to accept it. It was Stef, who had gone to help these kids with Donald before. The young girl probably knew before she came in this room, that it was Stef, who will take it the hardest and who will protest the hardest. All of her attention was now turned to my wife, who was staring back at her.

"Callie, he left you!" Stef reminded Callie in a firm and loud voice, gesturing with her hands to make her point even more visible, but the girl stood her ground and didn't even react to my wife's tone or the fire in her eyes

"I know," Callie agreed back quietly and quickly. She seemed to not be affected by Stef's intensity.

"Do you not remember what he did to you? How he treated you and your brother? He was out drinking more than he was home with you."

"Yes, I remember. I was there." Callie said in a hushed voice as she stared right at Stef

"He's toxic. He makes bad decisions. He's bad influence. He cares more about himself and alcohol, than he does of his children!" Stef counted off on her fingers, trying her best to open the girls eyes

"That's nothing new," the girl shrugged back, like it was no big deal

Stef walked closer to Callie as she inquired "What makes you think he won't change his mind about you the minute you move in?"

"I don't," Callie replied simply, causing Stef to take a step back as she let her hands fall down to her side.

Her calm reaction to everything Stef had said, made me wonder, if she had already made a list of pros and cons for it. Nothing that Stef said, surpirsed or shook the ground beneeath her feet, becase she had already placed all of those things under the cons side. The cons list was probably much longer than the pros list. Which made me curious, what had Callie listed as the pros, that topped everything on the other side. I was scared to find out.

Stef put her hands on her hips as she turned her back to the girl. Her head hanging down, thinking. It looked like Stef was defeated and didn't know what else to say to the girl. Everything she tried -failed. She could not get through to her and it bothered her, more than she ever would like to admit.

With her back still turned to the girl, Stef asked, while shaking her head "Then how can you be possibly considering it?"

"How?" Stef repeated facing the girl, her voice softer, calmer.

Callie licked her lips as she averted her eyes down for a second "The only reason he is not drinking, is because he has a dream."

"What dream?" Stef questioned, her shoulders moved upwards

"That we will be a family again," Callie explained in the same slow, calm manner "If I don't agree, I'm afraid he's going to drink himself to death. Loosing mom, was hard enough. I don't want to go to another funeral!"

Fear...fear was a strong motivator.

Callie's revelation made Stef sit down on the very side of the bed in defeat. Stef ran her hand over her mouth and looked over to me, asking me how to proceed further as she was out of ideas.

I looked at my heartbroken wife on the other side of the bed. Stef loved this girl with all her heart and I know she understood, just like me, that we were slowly loosing her. She was slipping through our fingers, right in front of our eyes. If Callie goes to live with him, her life will be ruined. She will have no future with him.

Donald is going to hurt her. We all knew it. It may not be intentional. It may not happen the first week or the second. It may not leave physical marks. But it will happen. Because alcoholics tend to do that. They hurt the people closest to them. And they do it over and over again. Callie is hanging on to Donald, in hopes that he will change. That he will get better. Because she doesn't want to come to terms that – they lost their father the same day they lost their mom. Her brain understand, but her heart can't seem to let go.

"This dream of his - the three of you being a family," I started, not being able to stay silent any longer "Do you share it with him? Do you have the same dream? Do you want for Jude to live with Donald again?" I asked, scared of the answer I will received

"No. Absolutely not! Donald is a horrible parent, not to mention an unreliable father! Jude deserves so much better. The three of us – we never were a family. We only shared blood and lived under the same roof. Jude needs a real family. He needs to be surrounded by people, who care about him!" Callie's answer sounded definite, she looked almost offended that I even asked her that "My dream...my wish is that Jude could stay here. With you. Forever." Her voice had gotten quieter at the end, I barely heard the last word she said.

"Because I know you love him!" Callie choked out at the end "I see it every day."

"Jude is not the only one who deserves better!" Stef stated as she raised up from the bed. There was hope in my wife's eyes, that all was not lost.

"Then tell me to stay!" Callie all but yelled with tears in her eyes. There were million reasons she shouldn't go, but all she needed was to hear one reason she should stay. All she needed from us was to ask her to stay.

The room went dead quiet for a moment.

"Don't go," Stef whispered, pleaded to her. You could hear the desperation in her voice.

"Stay with us," I added quietly as my own eyes, started to tear up

The tears fell. She silenced the cry by placing her hand over her mouth. Callie averted her eyes down and let out a shaky breath. Her shoulders eased up.

Callie POV

"Dad!" I called banging at his doors "It's me. Open up!"

I heard a bang, coming from the inside. Sounded like an object fell or was hit on something. It was followed by a loud cursing and shuffling footsteps coming towards the doors.

I heard him unlock the doors from the other side. The chain rattled. Lock turned. And then "Callie!" dad huffed.

I was instantly hit with the smell of alcohol in his breath. It made me want to retreat further away from him. His face looked tiered out, bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. His body odor was not pleasant at all, obviously he hasn't had a shower in days. Light stubble, he hasn't shaved in few days. The white under shirt, he was wearing, had a yellow stains all over it. He must have spilled something on it.

So much for the promise of not drinking.

"Why are you here?" he wondered, opening the doors a bit wider to let me in "Wait...what time is it?"

"It's noon," I replied walking inside the apartment, wondering to myself, how long had he lasted sober.

The apartment was dark - all the curtains were closed. Beside that, it was a complete mess. The air was stuffy, window hasn't been opened for a while, probably. Pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The counter was dirty, breadcrumbs all of it. The trash can was full. Trash was piling up next the bin as well. Half empty bags of snacks were seen all around the room. Half eaten lunch in one of those plastic containers was on the coffee table, next to 6 empty beer bottles and a few apple core's. A blanket, pillow and his shirt was tossed on the ground, in front of the couch. Looked like he had spend the night or morning on the floor.

"I came to talk to you about the offer you made," I said walking over to the window, pulling open the curtains and opening the window to let in fresh air and light in

Dad picked up the shirt from the ground and put it on "What offer?"

"Of course you don't remember," I sighed, letting my arms fall down to my side. Why was I even surprised by this.

"No, no! I remember...the uh...I-" Dad tried to recall, but he was unsuccessful, while trying to button up the shirt. His hands were trembling a bit. The buttons kept slipping through his fingers.

"You offered me to move in back with you!" I reminded him

Dad stopped buttoning up his shirt and left it open "I thought we already discussed it."

"No, we didn't," I said, walked up to the coffee table and started to clean up the mess, not being able to look at it any longer "I told you I needed time to think about it, before I gave you an answer."

"Yeah...I got your answer loud and clear!" Donald mumbled back walking over to the fridge. He took out a beer, opened it, tossed the cap on the counter and raised the cold drink up to his lips

"What answer? I haven't given you an answer yet!" I set all the beer bottles back on the table loudly

"Days!" Donald shouted back, pointing his finger at me, while holding on to his drink in other "You made me wait for days! Weeks! I waited and waited...and waited. No call...no text…no nothing!"

"I told you – I needed time to think about it!" I repeated it, because obviously he had not heard me the first time around. But then again, no matter how loud I speak, he never seems to hear me.

"How fucking long do you need! It was a simple question Callie," Dad started to wave his arms around, some of the beer in the bottle spilled out on the floor "We could have been a family. You only had to say yes, but you didn't….you ruined the last chance of us becoming a family!"

"No!" Adapting to the tone that I was being spoken with, I raised my voice as well "You do not get to do this! You do not get to blame me. You left us...remember! Your drinking and the way you treated us, is what got us in this fucked up situation to begin with!"

"Oh, don't start this again!" Dad shouted back "I'm sick and tiered of hearing it...so, what – I drink a couple of beers now and then," he raised the bottle up gesturing to it "Everyone does. It's not a crime!"

"It is if you neglect your kids!" I shot back instantly

"I never neglect you!" Dad slammed the beer down on the counter next to him, I was surprised that the bottle hadn't shattered from the force with witch he had slammed it down "There are kids, who have had it much worse than you do-"

"And there are a lot more kids, who had it much better as well, dad!"

"You know what...no, I'm not doing this!" I raised my hand up as I suddenly felt this was going out of control. There was no point in doing this. It was not going anywhere. We could be arguing for days and nothing would get resolved

"Dad...I can't move in with you!" I informed him, wanting to end this

Dad's jaw tightened and he looked away.

"I love you and you're very important to me, but I can't be around you and watch you drink yourself to death. It hurts too much-"

"Then leave!" Dad exclaimed, marching over to the doors and opening them for me "The doors are right here! Walk out anytime you want...I'm not stopping you!" When I wasn't moving from my spot he slammed them close, making me flinch at the sudden loud bang. It felt like the whole house trembled from the force.

"It's that cop...right? Short hair-" He pointed to his own head as he started to move closer to me, I was no longer following his trail of thought for I had no idea, how he had managed to include Stef in all of this "The one that came over to my work- what's her name..."

"Stef...her name is Stef!" I said, but once I said it, I realized I probably shouldn't have.

Tapping his finger to my temple, over and over, and over again, he continued "Stef put this thought in your head! She's turning you against me!" I squirmed at his breath and tried to lean further away from him as he spoke

I swatted his hand away "What thought? What are you talking about?"

"That I'm a bad father. Hmm...I know she told you that, admit it!" I rolled my eyes at him and chuckled out as I found that it absolutely ridiculous "That's what she thinks of me. That's how she wants you to think of me. She has poisoned your mind!" He started to sound paranoid

"No, you did that all by yourself!" I stated back as I walked pass him, moving towards the exit. The only thing Stef and Lena were guilty of – was loving us the way parents should.

"Where the hell are you going?" Dad called after me, when I had put my hand on the door handle

"I'm done, dad!"

"Done?...What do you mean?"

"It means that I don't want to spend another second with you, when you are like this! If you don't want my help, so be it. That's fine. It's your choice...your life. I'm not going to try and convince you to change, because you, obviously, don't want to change. So I am done!"

When I was one step out of the door "Don't call me unless you do." With that, I walked out, wondering if those were the last words I will ever say to dad

Tears had started to stream down my cheeks, the second I had closed the doors between me and dad. I hurried out of the apartment building and jumped in the back of Stef's car. They both turned in their seats, looking at me. Lena reached out, placing her hand on my knee, silently trying to console me.

"Please, drive. I just want to go home!" I managed to choked out before I cried out, leaning back into the seat and covering my face with my hands

Walking away from dad was hard, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Till the day, he decided to get sober for himself, nothing would change. Doing it for us, for his children, was not enough. I had tried to help him. Jude had begged him to stop drinking. We had both tried to get him understand, that his drinking is getting out of hands. But he never listened.

But I understand it now, that it wasn't because we weren't good enough. It was because we were a constant reminder of Colleen; of what he had done. The guilt was too heavy. It was taunting him. The only way, he could forget - was to drown his sorrows and memories in alcohol.

If Jude and I wanted to have a life...a future, we had to move on. We had to leave dad behind. Otherwise, he would have pulled us under along with him. Stef and Lena had come around the right time. By taking us under their wing – they saved us. They reminded us what it meant being a part of family.

"I want to go home," I repeated quietly wiping away the tears, trying to stop crying

"We're going home, love!" Stef gave me a wink in the rear view mirror, while Lena fondly patted my knee

 **THE END**

* * *

 **I know...sudden.**

 **But I feel like I have told the story that I wanted to tell - the struggle of living and loving with someone who is an alcoholic and the decisson to walk away. I hope it is a satisifying end.**

 **From the bottom of my heart - thank you everyone for reading and for supporting me. I hoped you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you everyone!**

 **-meyouthem123**


End file.
